Hojo vs Suichi
by Rosie hater
Summary: Kagome has returned to her time and is trying to set her life in order. Hojo still refuses to leave her alone. She meets someone new... A guy is staying at her house? WHAT? Will feelings develop? Who will win her? InuYuYu cross KagXKur NOT FOR HOJO FANS!
1. Problems Arise

"Will Kagome Higurashi please report to the principal's office immediately

_**Hojo vs. Suichi**_

_**Ch. 1**__ – Problems Arise_

"Will Kagome Higurashi please report to the principal's office immediately!" A voice sounds over the intercom. "Now Ms. Higurashi!"

"Alright already!" A girl with long dark hair and brown eyes screams at one of the speakers in the hallway. "I'm coming! And I'm not moving any faster!"

"Hey Kagome! Wait up!" A boy with short black hair and dark eyes runs over to her. "Why are you being called down to the office? Is it something I can help with?"

"No Hojo." Kagome sighs.

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping Kagome, really."

"You try to help too much. I'm sure there's another girl who really needs you." She keeps walking.

"I already told you who I like and I'll still be here whenever you decide that you want to go out." He matches hr pace.

"Ms. Higurashi! I know you're in school today! You better be in my office within the next two minutes!" A male voice snaps over the intercom.

"You SHUT UP!" Kagome screams at the nearest speaker.

"Anger is not gong to solve anything. You need to relax. I know just what you need. How about I take you out to a nice dinner this evening?" Hojo offers.

"NO!" Kagome snaps. "Why the hell don't you give up already?!"

"Because one day you'll surprise yourself and say yes." He smiles. "And when that day comes I'll be the happiest guy around. I refuse to give up on you Kagome."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Your stubbornness is causing you to play hard to get. I relish the challenge. You are worth the wait."

"Whatever." Kagome opens the door to the office, walks in and shuts it on Hojo's face. "HA!"

"Ms. Higurashi!" Her wrist is grabbed from behind and she is thrown into a chair. "Now listen here!" A big guy with dark hair, mustache and cold eyes barks from across the desk. "I have been calling you down all afternoon!"

"Maybe I would've gotten here faster is you sent an escort."

"I did."

"Who?"

"Hojo."

"What!? Are you insane!? He's not an escort!"

"He was just escorting you here, wasn't he?"

"No."

"So that wasn't him walking with you down the hall?"

"… No. You were hallucinating."

"Now listen here! I'm going to have to trash your record with a nice black marker if you don't improve."

"I've only been in school for a week!" Kagome argues. "I'm at the head of the class!"

"You've also been out more times than any other student with sudden odd illnesses. The District Committee members have been voting against you staying. The only reason you've been allowed to come to school this week is because Hojo's parents are on the board and their son likes you. So unless you show some interest in the boy then you'll have to leave. They can't hold out forever, there are more members against them."

"So… it's either date him or transfer…"

"Yes."

"…How much paperwork would I have to do for a transfer?"

After a couple of hours in the office, Kagome is finally able to leave the office. She slowly starts to walk home, leaving the school and heading up the road. "I can't believe this… there's no way I'll be able to afford a transfer to any of these schools!" Kagome fumes.

"Excuse me, miss?" A light male voice reaches her ears.

"WHAT!" She snaps, whirling around and nearly hitting the guy behind her. "GO AWAY-!" She meets beautiful emerald eyes and within seconds her anger vanishes.

"… Hi. I can clearly see that you've been upset by something and would've chosen to leave you alone, but you dropped your book." He holds out a book with a blue cover on it.

"My history book!" As she takes it from him, Kagome notices that along with stunning green eyes the guy also has long red heir, not commonly found around this area of Japan. "… You're not from around here, are you?"

"Well… no. Actually…" He looks at the ground. "I'm kind of lost."

"Well since you helped me with my book, I'll return the favor." Kagome offers. "Where are you headed?"

"Higurashi Shrine."

"…" Kagome's eyes widen slightly.

"Is something wrong? Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?" the guy becomes nervous.

"… Why are you going there? What could you possibly want?"

"I was looking for a place to stay and found in the newspaper that the lady at Higurashi Shrine was offering a place. I mailed her a letter, but have heard nothing about it. And the ad was in the paper today so I know she hasn't found anyone yet."

"…" Kagome looks at him questioningly. "You're Suichi?"

"Yes… how do you know my name?"

"I thought you were a girl." Kagome's face turns pink in embarrassment. "I mailed you a letter two days ago. I'm Kagome Higurashi."

"…" Suichi doesn't seem to be able to speak, still shocked over the girl comment. "… You'd really think I'd be used to this by now… I'm sorry for the confusion." He turns to leave.

"No, I should be apologizing. I should've been more specific in the newspaper. If you have no where else to go, you can come home with me."

"Are you sure?" Suichi turns to look at her.

"Yeah… the least I can do is offer you a place to stay."

"Thank you." He bows.

"You will have to help me do chores around the house though."

"I can do that."

"Then follow me." Kagome leads him down the road and after a good 20 minutes walk they reach the steps Higurashi Shrine. "This is home." She starts to trek up the steps.

"How many steps are there?" Suichi asks as he tries to keep up with her.

"42." They finally reach the top. "There's the house." Kagome points to the building on the right. "Then there's the Shrine and the museum."

"Do a lot of people come to visit?" He inquires.

"Yes. My friends and I run it. We're open on the weekends and Friday afternoons. So I'll be working while you're moving your stuff. I'll be in to cook supper at 6:30." Kagome leads him to the house, shows him around downstairs and takes him to his new room. "I have to go get ready for work; you'll be alright by yourself, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good." She runs off down the hall.

_-She seems a lot nicer then when she almost slapped me earlier.- _Suichi thinks to himself.

_-/She thought you were a girl./-_ A voice taunts in his mind.

_-So glad you were amused Hiei. Why did you follow me here?-_

_-/I wanted to know where you were moving to./-_

Suddenly there is a scream from down the hall, jolting Suichi out of his mind conversation with Hiei. "Kagome!" He runs out of his room and down the hall in concern.

"Get out! Get out NOW!" Kagome fumes. Suichi runs in to find a pissed off Kagome yelling at a boy with short dark hair and eyes who's apparently climbed through her window. "I told you no! NO Hojo! NO!"

"But Kagome!" The boy whines. "You never answer the door anymore when I come. The only option you left me was your window."

"I said NO! GO AWAY!"

"I won't!" Hojo moves to grab Kagome, but Suichi cuts in, stepping in front of Kagome and pushing Hojo across the room. "Who are you?!"

"A friend." Suichi states, glaring at the boy.

"She never lets a man in her house! How the hell did you get in!?"

"I walked through the front door. Now I suggest you leave because you are upsetting Kagome."

"Kagome!" A voice calls from outside. "Where are you- wait a minute… I sense a disturbance." Without warning Hojo is ripped back and yanked through the window. "You're not supposed to be here." The voice growls.

"Shorin! What are you doing up here?" Kagome talks to the person who just pulled Hojo out of her room.

"You're 6 minutes late to work and you're never late. I figured something was wrong. We'll take care of him, you get ready for work." The voice orders.

"Are you alright Kagome? Suichi asks in concern.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Thanks for helping me."

"You're welcome. Who were those people?"

"Well the one you threw was Hojo. He goes to my school and he hasn't left me alone since we met 3 years ago. He's the most popular guy in class but I don't want to be his girlfriend. Shorin you'll meet later along with his twin Corin and my sister Nora. They'll be joining us for supper after work."

"I didn't see a room for your sister when you showed me around the house. Does she live somewhere else?" Suichi inquires.

"She lives downstairs, in the basement. She only comes up to raid my kitchen. Other then that she has everything she needs downstairs. And there's a small dojo on the other side of the museum, that's where Nora works. The twins work with me. They're samurai."

"What are you?"

"I am a priestess. Now I'd like to finish changing and get to work. So if you don't mind, I'll see you at supper."

"Oh yeah, sure. I'll just go… unpack." Suichi quickly walks out of the room.

Several hours later, at supper time, Kagome walks into the house. She stops when she smells something coming from the kitchen. "There's someone in my kitchen!" she rushes through the dining hall and into the kitchen.

"Hello Kagome, how was work?" Suichi turns to see a concerned Kagome dressed in priestess garb.

"You're in my kitchen!"

"Yeah, I thought I'd cook dinner since you're letting me stay here. Don't worry, I haven't burnt anything." He tries to calm her down.

"There's a guy in my kitchen!" She panics. "Cooking!"

"I take it this is a first for you. I promise I won't ruin your nice kitchen or burn anything. Just go sit in the dining room and let me take care of dinner." Suichi steers her out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Suichi walks out of the kitchen with dinner. He sets a big bowl of spaghetti down along with sauce, meatballs, sausage, butter and cheese. "So you never answered me, Kagome. How was work today?" Suichi takes a seat next to Kagome.

"Fine." She squeaks.

"Is something wrong?" He asks, concerned.

"Oh she's fine!" A girl in a white gi with short dirty blonde hair and blue eyes waves dismissively from across the table. "You just messed up her schedule."

"What schedule?"

"How about you give me your name, I'll give you mine, and then you can ask questions."

"Suichi Minamino."

"Nora Rave."

"Kagome said you were sisters, why do you have different names?"

"Well you see, if we were both named Kagome we might get confused of whether or not someone was looking for her or me."

"He meant last name you smartass." A boy with short black hair and green eyes wearing a black yukata elbows Nora.

"That's what I am." Nora grins.

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!"

The boy reaches over and shoves Nora's face in her plate full of spaghetti and sauce. "You fail!"


	2. Snap

Ch

_**Ch. 2**__ – Snap_

An odd silence fills the room. After several minutes a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes in a white yukata speaks up. "So Suichi… do you like cooking pancakes?"

"… I suppose so…" Suichi answers hesitantly. "Why?"

"Because I like cooking pancakes. Are you better at cooking pancakes then me?"

"… I don't know?"

"No, you're not." They boy grins. "Do you want to know why?"

"…Do I?"

"Yes. It is because…" He pauses for dramatic effect. "I am… the… PANCAKE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!"

"…" Suichi decides not to make any comments.

"So…." The boy is suddenly serious. "I would like to challenge you to a pancake-making duel. This shall take place tomorrow morning at breakfast and out 3 judges will decide who wins. Do you accept my challenge?"

"If Kagome will allow me to use her kitchen. She didn't seem to be very fond of me being in her kitchen earlier."

"That's because dinner is her meal. She also puts lunch together for us. But breakfast is mine!"

"…ok." Suichi answers hesitantly. "Can you give me your name first?"

"Oh yeah! You only know the girls! Well… besides this person over here." The boy pokes the guy next to him.

"Hey! I'm not a girl!" The other boy points out.

"Yeah you are! You're my bitch!"

"… fine."

"Anyways." The 'Pancake Master' turns back to Suichi. "I'm Coren and this is my brother Shorin. We're twins, just not identical ones."

Later that night Kagome sits in her room at a desk. "What are you working on?" Suichi stands in her doorway.

"Still working on math." She sighs.

"You've been working on that for the past hour."

"I know. I just suck at math."

"I can help if you'd like." Suichi offers.

"Really? Will you, please?" Kagome looks up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Sure. But you have to return the favor."

"… I'm not dating right now. So if that's it I cannot help you." Kagome turns back to her notebook.

"…" Suichi is silent for a fe minutes. He suddenly turns and walks down the hall to his room.

Kagome sighs and continues to stare mutely at the problem in front of her. _–Sorry Suichi, but I get enough of that kind of attention already. Especially from Hojo. I don't need someone to bother me here at home too.-_ After a short while Suichi walks into her room, drops something in front of her and walks back over to the door.

"That should help you." He leaves.

"…" Kagome just stress at the notebook in front of her, unsure what to do. _–After I snapped at him he still wants to help me? He must be on something… he has to be…-_ Kagome slowly opens the notebook, attempting to read Suichi's notes.

About an hour later Kagome appears in Suichi's bedroom doorway. "Suichi?"

"… Yes?" He turns to face her in his chair, setting his book down on his desk.

"… I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"I didn't mean to offend you Kagome."

"I know… you were trying to help. I'm just being pushed around by guys at school. And you saw Hojo."

"Yeah… I wasn't going to ask for something you can't give. I just thought it would be nice to hang out. But its getting late, so I assume you would like to go to sleep."

"I came to return you notebook, thanks for the help."

"I'm glad my old notes came in handy. You go to the school down the road, correct?"

"Yes." Kagome answers.

"I just transferred in. I should be getting my new books and uniform tomorrow."

"Would you like me to… walk you there?"

"That's what I was going to ask earlier."

"Oh. Well… here's your book." Kagome slowly walks into the room and hands Suichi his notebook.

"Thank you for returning it." He smiles at her.

"… Night." Kagome is out of the room and down the hall within seconds.

_-/She left in a hurry. Didn't scare her, did you fox?/-_

_-No Hiei. What are you still doing outside my window?-_

_-/I was bored./-_

_-You might've scared her. Once she finds you sneaking around here she could kick me out you know.-_

_-/If she poses a threat then I will remove her./-_

_-Leave her alone Hiei.- _Suichi states firmly.

_-/Why? She's just a human./-_

_-Because she was the first girl who didn't immediately turn into a fangirl the moment she saw me.-_

There is silence for a few minutes before Hiei speaks up. _-/You like her./-_

_-Not in that way Hiei. I would like to be friends at least.-_

_-/You like her./-_ Hiei taunts. _-/What does your Youko side say?/-_

_-He's been shut out.-_

_-/Maybe you should let him out and see what happens./-_

_-No.-_ With that Suichi shuts Hiei out of his mind and puts his book away. He turns out the light and notices Kagome's light still on. _–I wonder if she's still awake…-_ Against his better judgement he leaves his room and walks over to Kagome's doorway. She's asleep in a book with her lamp light on. He slowly steps across the room, being cautious not to wake her he gently takes the book out from unser her head and places it on the nightstand. He tosses a blanket over her and shuts off the light, returning to his own room. _–C'mon Red! You could've at least tucked her in!-_ A voice nags Suichi in his mind. _–I thought I put you to sleep. I do not want your opinion.- __-But she's cute when she's sleeping Red! And if you wanted me to stay dormant for a bit longer then you shouldn't have gone into a girl's room. Alone. At night. With her sleeping.-__ -Get your thoughts out of the gutter! We're not even friends yet!- __-Ah! But I can fix that! I'll even skip that step and have her in your arms by tomorrow night!-__ -No.- __-C'mon Red! It's easy!-__ -No, she doesn't want anyone right now.- __-I could change that.-__ -No. She's not ready for a relationship yet. She wasn't keen on me coming here. The only reason why she let me stay is because she felt bad. You saw how pissed off she was when we met her.- __-Yes. But if you were paying attention you would've also noticed how quickly her anger faded when she saw us.-__ -That wasn't because she liked us, that was because we weren't the person she wanted to hit. Now stop arguing with me and let me sleep.- __-Can I go watch her while you're sleeping?-__ -No Youko. Now go to sleep.-_


	3. Pancake Time

Ch

_**Ch. 3**__ – Pancake Time_

"Wakey wakey Suichi! Rise and shine! It's time to duel!" Corin yanks Suichi off the bed by the feet. "It's breakfast time! Pancake time!"

"What time is it?"

"5 am! And it's bright and sunny outside! See?" Corin rip s back the curtains, flooding the room with morning light as the sun rises over the horizon. "C'mon Suichi! It's pancake time!" He beams.

"Come back later. It's too early."

"No time is too early for PANCAKE TIME!"

"Corin…" A voice growls from the doorway.

Corin slowly turns around to find a pissed off Kagome in blue pjs standing in the doorway. "Ah… morning Kags... heh… I was just talking to Suichi, no harm done…"

"You… were yelling." She growls.

"… Heh… no I wasn't…"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Kagome glares at him.

"No." He squeaks.

"If Suichi does not wish to get up then you will have to wait till later to cook. Your pancakes can wait. Leave him alone. Go harass Nora or something."

"I will if you let me take you back."

"What?" She yawns.

"You're obviously very tired and need to be carried back to your room." A sly smile spreads across Corin's face as he slowly steps towards Kagome.

"Nani?" Kagome tries to take a step back but she stumbles and grabs hold of the door frame, gripping it for support.

"Here, let me help you." Corin sweeps her off her feet, holding her in his arms. "Don't worry I won't drop you."

"Eee!" Kagome screams, trying to maintain her grip on the door frame.

"Oh no you don't." Corin rips her away from the door. He turns to look at a concerned Suichi. "Look what you missed!" Corin taunts before turning his attention back to a whining Kagome.

"Down! Down!"

"Shh. I know you're tired. Time to go back to sleep, yes, yes. Too bad Suichi, she makes cute sounds when she's sleepy, aggravated and tickled. But right now is not tickle time. Right now is time to go tuck little Kags in." Corin smiles. "Isn't that right?"

"Tuck time?" Kagome looks up at Corin with sleep-filled eyes.

"She also gets a bit silly when she's sleepy, but it's so cute." Corin continues to smile. "Time to go tuck in little Kags. I'll be back for you later Suichi." Corin walks off down the hall carrying Kagome.

A few hours later Corn runs into Suichi's room and jumps on the bed excitedly. "Suichi wake up! It's PANCAKE TIME!"

"Alright, alright. I'm up." Suichi sit up. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Ok! I'll get the pans and ingredients out!" Corin rushes out of the room.

A short while later Suichi walks downstairs to find Shorin and Nora sitting at the table arguing, Corin sitting next to his twin. "Where's Kagome?"

"You're awake!" Corin jumps out of his seat with glee. "Time to cook!"

"Finally, it's about time I get breakfast. I could've stayed at the dojo longer this morning if I knew someone was going to sleep in." Nora remarks.

"Sorry. I didn't know. And it's the weekend." Suichi apologizes.

"I'll forgive you since you're new. Next time I'll just go back to the dojo and you can call me in whenever."

"Ok. Where's Kagome?" He asks again.

"Kags is still sleeping." Shorin states. "You two start cooking, I'll go get her." He gets up and walks upstairs to Kagome's room.

"PANCAKE TIME! YES!" Corin rushes into the kitchen, dragging Suichi with him. When they come out of the kitchen an hour later, with 3 plates of pancakes each, they find Nora tapping her foot impatiently and a blanket-wrapped Kagome sleeping in Shorin's lap. "Wakey wakey little Kags!" Corin exclaims excitedly. "It's time to eat pancakes!"

"I'll wake her!" Nora walks out of the room. When she comes back she puts a pair of headphones over Kagome's ears. "Watch this!" She presses play on a CD player and turns the volume up all the way. After a couple of second the sounds of Story of the Year can be hears clearly through the room. Kagome stirs, moves slightly, but continues to sleep. "What the hell!?" Nora exclaims in annoyance.

"You fail." Shorin whacks Nora upside the head. "Would you like to wake her up Suichi?"

"… Um… I don't think I should…"

"Why not? Scared?"

"No… I just don't think she'd appreciate it. I don't want to invade her space."

"…Ok."

"Oooooh! Me! Me! Pick me! I wanna wake her up!" Corin jumps up and down in excitement.

"No." Shorin states blandly.

"Aw! Why not Bro!?" He whines.

"It's not tickle time yet."

"Aw! Damn it! Why not!?"

"It's a bit early. She might kill up so we should be nice about waking her. But when she falls asleep in the afternoon, its fair game."

"YES!" Corin happily sits down at the table.

"Kags…" Shorin whispers in the sleeping girl's ear. "Time to wake up…"

…no…" She mumbles.

"Kags, its breakfast time."

"… meh…"

"C'mon, it's time to wake up."

A light growling sound can be heard.

"Kagome… I can be a jerk about this if you really want me to be…"

"… No…" She growls.

"Then get up."

"… Can I stay here?"

"…Fine. Just sit up."

"… Ok." Kagome opens her eyes and looks around. "… How did I get down here?"

"I carried you. Now eat."

Nora stuffs a forkful of pancake into Kagome's mouth. "You can go back to sleep after we decide the winner."

That afternoon, Kagome is sitting on the windowsill reading a book when Suichi knocks on her open door. "Hi."

"Hello, I was wondering if you would show me where your school is so I can pick up my new school books?"

"… Sure." Kagome places her bookmark in between a couple of pages and sets her book down on her desk as she ties a sweatshirt around her waist and heads downstairs. Suichi follows her; they slip on shoes before walking out the door.

"How many times do you go up and down these stairs?" Suichi asks as they descend the shrine steps.

"Maybe 4 times a day, why?"

"Just curious." After several minutes of walking they finally reach the school. Kagome leads Suichi to the principal's office, stopping in front of the door. "Is something wrong?" Suichi asks in a concerned voice.

"It's best that I don't go in." She steps away from the door. I think you'll be alright by yourself. I'll wait for you out here."

"Is he mean?"

"Not to new students."

"You'll be alright by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Suichi." Kagome sighs. "Now go, he doesn't have a lot of patience."

"Alright." Suichi walks into the office, shutting the door behind him. Kagome slowly slides down the wall to sit on the hallway floor.

"There you are Kagome! I've been looking all over for you." A slightly light male voice reaches her ears.

"No Hojo." Kagome sighs, refusing to look up at him.

"Kagome please… just hear me out."

"… What do you want Hojo?"

"I would like to spend some time with you. I know my actions the other day weren't given much thought but you've got to understand, I just want to be near you. I don't know what you want me to do. How can I make you happy enough that you'll be my girlfriend?"

"I don't like you that way. You can't force someone to love you. And you especially don't go climbing up onto their roof and through their window!"

"I had no other way of getting to you!" He whines.

"You were shut out for a reason!" Kagome stands.

"I don't understand why you can't just love me! Every other girl would _kill _to be my girlfriend!" Hojo exclaims.

"Newsflash! I'm not like every other girl!" Kagome snaps at Hojo. Suichi steps out of the principal's office to witness the verbal fight.

"But you can still change your mind!" Hojo doesn't notice Suichi.

"I choose not to!" Kagome yells back.

_-… Maybe I should've taken my time gathering my new books…- _Suichi thinks to himself. _-… Something tells me that this will not end well…-_


	4. Battle!

Ch

_**Ch. 4**__ - Battle!_

"Why the hell not!?" Hojo yells furiously.

"Because I just don't like you that way! Get it through your thick head! I do not now nor will I ever love you!!" Kagome snaps back.

"Why can't you at least pretend that you like me!?"

"I DON'T!" She screams.

_-No wonder she wanted to hit him the day I met her. He does nothing but try to force her into a relationship she doesn't want.-_ Suichi backs up into the office door, intent on hiding behind it.

"C'mon Kagome! I'm the most popular guy at school!" Hojo whines. "Doesn't that matter to you!?"

"No! It doesn't! A guy doesn't have to be popular for me to like him! I could care less how popular he is!"

"But I could give you everything!"

"I don't want everything! I don't need everything!"

"You never want anything from me!"

"I DON'T LIKE YOU!" Kagome fumes. "Get it through your thick head! I do not like you that way! I WILL NEVER LIKE YOU THAT WAY!" She reaches over and smacks Hojo. "Now leave me alone or I'll call security!"

"…" Hojo is silent for a few minutes as a red hand print appears on the side of his face. Kagome turns and runs off down the hall.

"Kagome…" Suichi makes it seem as if he just walked out of the door.. He stares at the silent Hojo for a few minutes before speaking. "Where's Kagome?"

"… She ran off on me. I guess I messed up again." Hojo shakes his head. "Maybe next time…" He leaves, walking in the opposite direction from Kagome.

_-He's not even sorry for upsetting her! That bastard!-_ Youko growls in Suichi's mind. _–He's really starting to piss me off! I otta-!-_ _-Enough.-_ Suichi cuts in. _–Let's just find Kagome and make she's ok.- __-I'll get him later.-__ -No you won't. He is not our concern right now, Kagome is.- __-So now you want her. Took you long enough Red.- __-I already told you Youko, I do not want her that way.- __-Do so. You just won't try.- __-She's not ready for a relationship right now, haven't you noticed that?- __-Fine. Let's just go find her and make sure she's ok. She might give us a hug.- __-You never give up.- __-Maybe if we're lucky we'll make her so happy, she'll give us a kiss!- __-You're unbelievable.- _ Suichi wakes off in the direction Kagome had run in. _–C'mon Red!- _You continues to talk in his mind._-What girl could not fall for me?- __-You need to check your ego.- __-There is no girl whose heart I cannot steal! No one can fight against the Legendary Fox Thief Youko Kurama!- _Suichi finds Kagome out in the schoolyard sitting up in a tree. "Kagome?"

"…Suichi. Sorry, I didn't mean to run off. There was… a huge spider. It jumped and scared me." She attempts to smile, but fails.

"You should've told me you were scared. I would've left the office earlier."

"I … did not wish to disturb you." Kagome shifts slightly on the branch. "Um… Suichi?"

"Yes?"

"I… um…"

"Yes?" He prods her.

"I … can't get down." Kagome drops her head in embarrassment.

"…" Suichi starts laughing.

"…It's not funny!" Kagome's face turns pink.

"Why did you limb the tree if you can't get down?"

"I can too get down!"

"Without help?"

"…" Kagome looks down at Suichi. "… sometimes."

_-C'mon Red! We can catch her and sweep her off her feet!- _ Youko prods Suichi. _–Just let me take over for a bit.-__ -Stay out of this Youko.- __-But Red! Think of the possibilities! She would owe us a favor for helping her! There's no way she'll say no to me!- __-Shut up Youko. This is my time.- _ "Alright, I'll help you. But you're going to have to trust me."

"…Ok… you're not gonna drop me a, are you?"

"You have to trust me to catch you."

"…"

"You're going to have to jump."

"I thought you would just make sure I don't fall getting down."

"This is the quickest way for you to get down. Just trust me."

"…Please don't drop me…"

"I won't drop you. You can trust me."

"…" Kagome releases her grip on the branch, sliding off and falling towards the ground. She closes her eyes as the ground becomes closer. She feels something wrap around her and lower her gently onto soft grass.

"You can open your eyes now." Suichi whispers in her ear. "I told you that I would catch you" Kagome slowly looks around. Her face shades a light pink when she realizes that she's holding onto Suichi. She quickly lets go of him as Suichi lets out a laugh. "Let's go home, shall we?" He offers hand to Kagome. She just stares at it for a minute of two. "I won't bite, I promise." _–I would love to, that is, I'm sure you'd love the job of being my mate.- __-Shh. Go away Youko.- __-What? I'm not hurting anyone. And what if she likes me?- __-Humans tend not to take well to demons. You of all people, should know that by now.-_

"…" Kagome looks up at him and slowly takes his hand. Suichi gently tugs her out of the school yard and out, onto the sidewalk, headed towards the Higurashi Shrine.

After supper Suichi walks into the living room to find Kagome laying on the couch lazily flipping through channels on the tv with the remote. He turns to leave but is caught in the doorway when the bored tone in Kagome's voice reaches his ears. "I won't byte, I promise."

"… I said that to you earlier…"

"Well I'm bored, come play a game with me."

"…ok." Suichi walks into the room. _–Might as well not complain if she's going to willingly let me near her.- __-That's it Red! Sweep her off her feet!- __-Youko!- __-This is your opportunity to get her to fall for us!-__ -Shut up Youko!- __-But she's cute Red! And she's willingly going to share the couch with us!-_

"Have a seat and pick a game." Kagome shifts to make room for him on the couch and pushes a stack of video games over to him. There is a big **THUD** from upstairs. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Kagome leaves the room

Corin walks in and takes Kagome's spot on the couch. "So… Suichi…"

"Yes?"

"You are a formidable opponent. But I will defeat you in the end."

"We tied."

"As the Pancake Master, a tie will make you my opponent until I win the battle."

"What if I just say that you win?"

"No! I will defeat you in battle!" Corin puts Soul Calibur into the player and grabs a controller. "I will not allow you to threaten my position as the Pancake Master. I challenge you to another duel tomorrow morning." He rapidly pushes a few buttons on the game controller. "HA HA! You fail!" Corin drops the controller and runs out of the room.

Kagome walks back into the room. "…Corin was here… wasn't he?"

"Um… yes. How do you know?" Suichi questions.

"That." Kagome points to the game screen, with Sigfried dancing across the screen with his huge sword. "No one else can make that character dance. He must've owned you, badly."

"Well…"

"I wouldn't worry about it. I can't beat him either."

"I didn't even get a chance to move."

"Yeah… well… that's Corin for ya. Want to play a different game?" Kagome suggests.

_-How about a game called 'see how long you can withstand Youko before you fall for him'?-__ -Youko! Hell no!- __-C'mon Red! You're such chicken!-__ -I'm not going to push her if she doesn't want to be pushed.- __-Who says she doesn't want to be?-_ "How about a card game?"

"Ok… regular cards or actual game cards?"

"Whichever you would prefer." Suichi answers.

"How about… Rack-o?"

"What kind of game is that?

"You have a container with 12 slots in it with numbers on the side counting by 5, up to 60. You will be given 12 cards and you must put them in the order they are given starting from the back. Once all your numbers are set you must pick up a card from the pile every turn, you either switch it with a card you already have, or discard it The first player to get their numbers in order from least to greatest starting at the front wins."

"A number game… alright."

After a few minutes Kagome jumps up in excitement. "I win! I win! Ha ha! I beat you!"

"…" Suichi checks her card holder. "… I guess you did." _–Red! You lost! How could you! You're better at math then she is!-__ -Sorry Youko. She was faster at getting the right cards then I was.-_

"I win! I win!" Kagome dances around. "Yay!" She hugs Suichi. The mental conversation going through his head comes to a complete stop.


	5. First Encounter

Ch

_**Ch. 5**__ – First Encounter_

_-Hey Red? Red! RED! -_ Youko yells, trying to get Suichi back. _–Well… since he's out I guess I'll just have to take over… wouldn't want her to thin we died. Although, I think Suichi did. Oh well. It's my time for some fun.-_ Youko smirks.

"… Heh." Kagome's face turns a slight pink as she realizes that she's holding onto Suichi. "Sorry Suichi, I guess I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing… I was just really excited." She slowly lets go of him.

"That's quite alright. If you ever need a hug all you have to do is ask." He smiles.

"…Heh. I wouldn't read too much into it. I was just a bit over excited. Sometimes I just can't help it."

"Why not? Do you not like me at all?"

"I like you it's just…"

"Just what?" He prods her. "Why don't you want to be in a relationship? What are you afraid of?"

"…" Kagome starts picking up the cards and putting them back into their box along with the card containers.

"C'mon Kagome… I'm not going to be mad at you. And I promise I won't laugh."

"…" She just continues to pick up.

"Kagome…" He get up and walks over to her, gently holding onto her shoulders and turning her to face him.

"Suichi…" She looks up at him, puzzled.

"You haven't answered me yet Kagome. And I know what happened earlier at school." He watches her eyes.

"Suichi I –" She tries not to look at him.

"Kurama."

"… Nani?" She finally notices that his eyes have changed color and glares at him. "You're possessed."

"Hm?"

"You're possessed by a demon!" She yanks free of his grip and attempts to leave the room. But Youko quickly pins her against the wall.

"There's no need to run. I'm just here to talk."

"What did you do to Suichi!? Where is he!?" Kagome tries to break free, but to no avail.

"He's fine. He's just sleeping. You can have him back after you talk to me."

"I don't want anything to do with demons! Leave me alone!"

"Oh but I can't. You intrigue me. I'm too curious to leave you now. I'm not here to hurt you. I already told you, I'm just here to have a nice conversation. So whenever you want to stop trying to run away, feel free. I can keep you pinned like this all night if need be, although I'm sure you'd much prefer to be somewhere more comfortable. Care to move to the couch?" Youko asks.

"Let go!" Youko is suddenly blinded by bright blue light and thrown across the room.

_-What the hell was that!?-_ His vision clears just in time for him to see Kagome get up off the floor and run upstairs. _–Damn.-_ _-Huh? What?-_ Suichi regains consciousness, taking back control. "… Why does my head hurt so much?" _–I have no idea.-_ "The last thing I remember is seeing Kagome so excited and happy about winning the card game. It was really cute. And then everything went black…" _–She hugged us. And you were so surprised, happy and giddy that you feinted due to a shock to the heart.-__ -I was not giddy.- __-Then what were you? Struck with puppy love?-__ -I -!-_ The loud sound of a door being slammed shut echoes from upstairs. "Kagome?" Suichi gets up and slowly makes his way upstairs. He walks over to Kagome's shut door, he goes to knock but when the smell of salt fills his senses, his hand drops to his side. _–Now is probably the worst time to talk to her. I should just leave her alone.-_ He walks to his room and shuts the door.

The next day Suichi goes downstairs for breakfast and finds Nora and the twins sitting at the table eating cereal. "… Where's Kagome?"

"In her room." Nora remarks in a flat, irritated voice.

"I would've made pancakes, but we can't have pancake time without little Kags." Corin sighs.

"Any ideas as to what happened last night to cause her to not want to come out of her room this morning?" Shorin questions him. "She refuses to come out and she won't open the door for anyone. Even me."

"Hey!" Corin pokes his twin. "She'd let me into her room just as much as she would you!"

"She doesn't want a happy-go-lucky fruit bat in her room right now."

"I can be serious! I offered to give her a nice hug and she still wouldn't let me in!"

"Would you two stop bickering!" Nora snaps. "If she won't let me enter her room then she's not going to let wither of you. Now Suichi…" Nora turns her attention away from the twins. "What happened last night? We were busy and didn't come upstairs."

"Um… I found Kagome by herself in the living room, she asked me to join her and play a game. Corin came in and made a character from Soul Calibur dance. Then he ran off just before Kagome came back into the room. We played cards; she won and was all happy and excited. We picked up and went out separate ways to sleep."

"Is that it?" _-/-There's something he's not telling me.-/-_

"Yes." _–That's all I remember.-_

"Gr… I WANT SOME FRIGGAN PANCAKES!" Corin yells out of nowhere. " I don't like this cereal! It's depressing!"

"Then go make some friggan pancakes!" Shorin hits his twin with a spoon.

"Ow!" Corin turns on his twin. "That hurt you jerk!" He rubs the print on his face and hits Shorin with his spoon.

"Then how about this!" Shorin hits him with a fish. Corin freezes momentarily, falling over.

"…Where did that come from?" Suichi asks, confused.

"Never mind them." Nora glares at Suichi. "I want to know about Kagome. What happened?"

"AAA!" Corin throws his cereal bowl across the room in frustration. "If I can't make pancakes then I'll just not meat breakfast! There's no way I'm eating any more of that vile cereal!" Corin is about to storm out when a disheveled Kagome appears in the doorway.

"What's going on down here?" She slowly looks up with sleep-filled eyes.

"It's little Kags!" Corin exclaims in excitement. He runs over and hugs her, picking her up and swinging her around. "Will you make pancakes with me?"

"… Do I have to?"

"Yes!" Corin runs into the kitchen; still holding Kagome.

Later that day Kagome is walking down a path in the woods behind the house when Shorin comes running over to her. "Hey Kags! Come back!" He shouts as he gets closer.

"Nani?" Kagome stops walking and waits for him to reach her. "What is it Shorin?"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"Come paint the fence with me."

"But I have to go for a walk."

"Go later. I want you to come paint the fence with me."

"But I just made pancakes with Corin this morning." Kagome whines.

"I don't care, c'mon." Shorin grabs hold of her hand and leads her back to the house.

Half an hour goes by and they're still painting the fence. "Can we take a break yet?" Kagome pleads.

"We're not finished yet." Shorin remarks.

"Break time." Kagome pokes him with her paint brush.

".." Shorin looks down at the white patch on his arm. "You marked me."

"Well-" Kagome pauses as everything seems to freeze. "… What the?" She waves her hand in front of Shorin's face but there's no movement. Not even the faint sound of his breathing. "Shorin?"

"My my, don't you look delicious." Kagome turns to find a giant rat demon licking his lips. "You smell like dinner."

"Oh shit… um… if you're looking for a meal the closest dumpster is that way." She points down the road.

"Ha! Ha! You're a funny little girl! But you are the meal!" He pounces but Kagome is able to dive out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed. Kagome checks for any sort of weapon only to find the paint brush she was using to paint the fence.

_-What the heck could I possibly do with a paint brush? Hit him with it?-_ Kagome frantically tries to come up with a plan.


	6. Second Encounter

Ch

_**Ch. 6**__ – Second Encounter_

"Stay still so that I may eat you!" The demon roars as he tries to pounce on Kagome but she keeps moving.

Kurama's ear twitches. "Huh?" Suichi stirs, sitting up. His ear twitches again. Confused he gets up off his bed and walks over to a small mirror. He blinks as he reaches up to touch a soft, furred fox ear and finds his hair has turned silver. "Youko…" _–Yeah?-_ "What the hell are you doing!?" _–There is a demon outside. I was going to take care of it while you were taking a nap. Go back to sleep.-_ "Wait… there's a demon outside? Why didn't I sense it!?" _–Because as soon as you fell asleep I took over so I could hear what Kagome was doing outside; but there is a demon outside and I am going to go fight him.- _"No. I will take care of him." _–And what will Kagome think if she sees you fight off and kill a demon?-_ "…" _–Where as, if I go save her she might tell me how she was able to get away from me last night…-_ "What?" _–Nothing. Let's go kill the demon before he causes any trouble.-_ "Fine. But even through I'll shift to your form, I will remain in control." _–But Red!-_ Youko whines. "Either deal with it and help or leave." -_Fine-_ Kurama jumps out the window and onto the roof, headed towards the area where he senses the demon.

"You can run but you will never out last me little girl!" The rat demon roars.

"Who says I'm running form you out of fear? And I don't need to out last you if I can out wit you." Kagome dodges another attack. Jumping closer to him this time, she adds a bit of her miko powers to the hand with the brush. She quickly whips the paint brush across the demons face. The demon screams and takes several steps back, grabbing at his face with his paws as the smell of burning flesh fills the air.

"You bitch!" The rat demon roars. "I'll kill you!" He takes his paws off his face to reveal a deep burn across his eyes, permanently blinding him. "I'LL KILL YOU!!" He blindly lunges at her, swiping at her with his claws.

Kagome continues to dodge his attacks, but he seems to get faster in his blind rage and manages to hit her pretty hard in the back of her head. Her vision starts to get blurry. _–Oh shit.-_ Kagome thinks to herself. _–I can't black out now… not now.-_

"HA HA HA HA!" The demon laughs. "I can smell your blood! You may have blinded me but now that you're bleeding I can smell you!"

_-If I can just reach Shorin..-_ Kagome takes off running.

"Oh no you don't! You're not allowed to call for help!" The rat demon swipes at her feet. He manages to wrap a paw around Kagome's leg and lifts her up off the ground.

"Eeeee!" Kagome screams.

"Ah, the sound of prey caught and about to be eaten… it is music to my ears! Again! Scream for me again little girl!" He taunts as he dangles her by her foot high up in the air.

"May I suggest that you release the lady at once." A slightly deep male voice resonates through the air.

"Who's there!?" The rat bellows, sniffing the air. "Quit hiding your scent and show yourself!"

"You made a mistake coming here. This is my territory." Youko steps out from behind a tree. "Release the girl before I kill you."

"…" Kagome's eyes widen as she sees a silver fox demon in a human-like form step out into the afternoon daylight. But she remains silent as she is left hanging upside-down in the air, the rat having seemed to forget about her; his attention on the newcomer.

"This is my meal! Go find your own!" The rat bellows.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that women are not for eating?" The fox states in a monotone.

"They are a rare delicacy! I will not allow you to rid me of my meal!" The rat swipes at him with his free paw. Youko catches the paw and snaps it back. The rat howls in pain.

"Pathetic. You have no idea who you're dealing with. Put the girl down and leave."

" I'LL KILL YOU!" the rat demon tries to attack Youko with his broken paw, but each of his hits meet with a small barrier. He continues to yell out as each hit sends a wave of pain up his arm. Youko brings his barrier down to unleash a ravenous plant with sharp teeth, it bites down over the rat's broken paw. Youko takes this opportunity to slice off the rat's other paw with his rosewhip. Kagome screams as she falls towards the ground, shutting her eyes. When she feels something grab her and carry her off she slowly opens her eyes to find Youko holding her and jumping from branch to branch.

"Nani?" she looks up at Youko with questioning eyes.

"You thought I'd let you fall? After I went through the trouble of stopping him from eating you?" He stops on a branch when he feels they're a good distance away from the rat demon.

"… What do you want from me?"

_-She likes me.-__ -shut up Youko.-_ _-Look at her Red! She's blushing!-__ -Down Youko.-_ "Do I need a reason to save you?" He lands on the ground.

"I find it hard for some fox demon to randomly show up and save me without wanting something in return."

"I should -?" Shorin looks around. "… Kagome? Where did you go? We were just talking… I know you can't disappear. Did you put up a barrier thinking I won't try to find you?" Shorin flings paint everywhere. He turns to find the rat demon that attacked Kagome being eaten by a giant plant. "…Well… that's not noticeable or anything…" He drops his paint brush and runs off.

"So I can ask you anything?" Youko gently sets Kagome on her feet.

"Well -!" Kagome starts to answer him but cuts off as 3 creatures jump out at them.

"I got him! I got him!" Corin tackles Youko to the ground.

"Get Kagome out of here!" Nora scoops up Kagome and tosses her into the air. Kagome screams and shuts her eyes, waiting to land on the ground but someone catches her.

"Don't worry, you're safe." Kagome opens her eyes to find Shorin funning away from the fox, back towards the house with her.

"How –"

"There was a rat in the yard."

"Oh."

"I can't hold him much longer!" Corin warns.

"Not to worry, I've got a way that'll make sure he won't try anything…" Nora walks over to them with one of her hands glowing.

_-What the hell is that Red!?- _Youko panics in Suichi's mind. _–I don't know Youko, but it doesn't look good for us.- __-Get the hell out of there Red!-__ -I can't, not without hurting them.- __-Red!-_They slowly lose consciousness. The fox falls to the ground as Nora releases her grip on his head.

"Now what?" Corin steps away from the unconscious fox demon.

"Now we get rid of him while he's knocked out." Nora grabs the fox's arm and hauls him up off the ground. "Here." She half throws him at Corin. You're supposed to be the guy, so help carry him."

"I think Nora took care of him." Shorin slows to a walk.

"Does that mean you're gonna put me down now?" Kagome asks hopefully.

"No." Shorin brings Kagome to her room and sets her on the bed. "You can come out when I say it's safe."

"But –"

"No." Kagome tries to speak again but Shorin puts his hand over her mouth. "I said no. Do not fight me, you will lose, you know that." He walks over to the door but turns back before leaving. "Stay." Kagome makes a face at him. He smiles and walks away.


	7. Kiss and Tell

Ch

_**Ch. 7**__ – Kiss and Tell_

Later that day Kagome slowly opens the door to her room and checks the hallway. When she finds it clear, she cautiously steps out of her room. "Don't even think about it." A voice resonates through the hallway. Kagome freezes, her eyes scanning around. Shorin drops down from the ceiling, landing in front of her. "And where do you think you're going?"

"For a walk." Kagome stands of against Shorin. "You know… the one you interrupted earlier?"

"Ya… so?"

"So I'm going for a walk."

"No you're not."

"Then what am I going to do?"

"You're going to turn around…" Shorin spins her. " And go back inside your room." He pushes her closer to her doorway.

"No." Kagome presses her heels to the floor, using them as breaks. "I'm going for a walk."

"Room."

"Walk."

"I said room."

"Walk!"

"Room!"

"WALK!" Bright light fills the room as Kagome hits Shorin upside the head. As the light fades Shorin stumbles back into the wall and hits the floor rather hard.

"Ow… you jerk… caught me… off guard…" He loses consciousness.

Kagome runs off down the hallway. She reaches the stairs to find Corin, seemingly asleep at the bottom of the staircase. She slowly descends the stairs, being careful not to wake him. She tries to carefully step over him, but he reaches out and grabs hold of her ankle, shocking her and causing her to fall flat on the floor. "Corin!"

"STOP." Corin looks up at her with a mischievous smile on his face. "Those who cross the bridge of death must answer me these questions three, dare the other side ye –"

"Damn you Corin! Knock it off!"

"Aw! But Kags!"

"No! You shut up and go away!"

"But Nora told me to come help Shorin! And then Shorin told me to go back! Then Nora sent me back again! Then you knocked out Shorin! And now you tried to step on me!" Corin gets agitated. "And now you're yelling at me! Well you know what I have to say?"

"No. And I don't care right now. Let me go!"

"The other two won't listen, but now you are. Do you know what I have to say?"

Kagome sighs. "What?"

"DAMN YOU ALL I'M GOING TO MAKE SOME FRIGGAN PANCAKES!" Corin gets up and walks off towards the kitchen. Kagome follows him on the floor.

"Corin."

"No! I'm making some damn pancakes!"

"Let go Corin!"

"Oh." Corin looks down to find that he still has hold of Kagome. "Sorry, you're so light I didn't notice I was dragging you." He lets her go and continues on his way to the kitchen.

Kagome runs outside to find Nora standing in front of the doors to the shrine. Kagome stops, just staring at Nora. "…" Nora doesn't move either. The two stare at each other for several minutes. Without warning Kagome takes off running. Nora follows in close pursuit. Within a few short seconds Nora tackles Kagome to the ground.

"And where do you think you're going? Huh?"

"Nora! Let go!" Kagome tries to pry herself free, but to no avail.

"Not until you tell me what happened between you and that fox. And why there was a rat in the yard."

"Fine." Kagome sighs in annoyance. "I was… helping Shorin… when I was attacked by a giant rat demon. That fox demon saved me. I tried to get to Shorin, but the rat grabbed me and was going to eat me."

"So that bastard froze us. No wonder I had that weird feeling."

"Now will you let me go?"

"No."

"What?! Why not!?" Kagome whines.

"I'm having fun right now."

"Get off!"

"You know you like it."

"Nora you pervert!" The two start laughing as they begin tackling each other, forgetting about the unconscious fox locked in the well house.

"Huh? What happened?" Suichi sits up on the floor of the well house. "Ow." He ribs his head. "What the hell did she hit me with!?" _–That's a good question, when you find and answer let me know.-_ Youko surveys the damage. _–In the meantime, you're going to have to let me have control.-_ "And why is that?" _–Because otherwise they're going to find out who you are.- _"But I look like you." _–Not any more.-_ Suichi checks to find human ears, no tail, red hair and his usual maroon outfit. "When did we change back?" _–While we were knocked out. But lucky for us, no one stayed in here to watch us.-_ Laughter heard, coming from outside. "…What's going on?" Suichi walks over to the door, but when he touches it he is shocked and thrown back. "Ow." _–They have spiritual wards all over this building. They are intent on making sure we can't escape.-_ "Then how do we get out of here before Kagome find me?" _–You give me control and I use my cunning skills to get us out of here.-_ "No." _–Fine. Then stay here and let Kagome find out that you're a demon. I bet that will go over well.-_ "Youko…" _–I thought you wanted to slowly gain her trust before staling her hear. But if you'd prefer to shock her and see if that speeds up the process, then be my guest.-_ Suichi sighs. "Fine. But don't do anything stupid." _­–YES!-_ They start to shift into demon form as Youko slowly gain control.

There is a noise from the door, the visible seals on the door fall to the ground as Kagome enters the well house. "…" She stands frozen in place, her eyes wide in shock as she catches them half-changed.

_-Oh shit.-_ Youko immediately gets a bit nervous.

"Suichi!" Kagome ruins over to them. "Let him go you stupid demon! I had enough of you last time! Stop possessing my friend!"

_-Let me go Red.-_ Youko growls. _–Before she tries to purify us.-__ -Don't hurt her.- __-Duh. Why would I intentionally hurt my potential mate?-__ -Youko…- __Don't deny it Red, you would enjoy that.-_

"Leave Suichi alone you stupid demon!" Kagome hits his cheek with a purification shock as she slaps him.

Youko gains complete control as he reaches a hand up to his cheek. "You marked my beautiful face. How rude."

"You let Suichi go right now or I'll slap you again!" She warns.

"But we didn't get to finish our nice conversation last time. You ran off on me." He whines.

"I don't want any association with demons any more! I'm done with that!"

"But you will still fight them."

"I do not socialize with demons! Now go away!"

"Oh, but I told you." Youko grabs her wrists in one hand, pulling her closer and holding her still he leans over slightly to whisper in her ear. "You intrigue me too much for me to leave you alone." His face gets closer to her as he continues to whisper in her ear. "I hope you don't mind my feeling for you little miko." His voice acquires a light purr, causing a light blush to seep over Kagome's face. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I took you out for a little walk -!" **SMACK!** Something flat and sticky slides off his face. "What the hell?!" His voice loses its purr and returns to normal as he starts to get angry. "What the hell is that!?" he keeps his grip on Kagome's wrists while using that other to wipe his face off. "Whatever -!" **SMACK!** Another one hits him in the back of his head. "Get out of here right now before I kill you!" Youko growls. _–I'll kill you for ruining my hair.-_

"Let my sister go." Corin steps out into the open, a plate full of pancakes in one hand and a spatula in the other. "You can't stand against my PANCAKES OF DOOM!"

"I'm not hurting your sister. Now leave."

"She's obviously not happy with you. Now let her go." Corin picks up a pancake with his spatula.

"Don't you _dare_ -!" **SMACK!** _–That's it. I'll kill him.-_Youko's eyes become tinged in red. "You… should not… have done that…" He growls, his demon aura starting to flare out around him. A small whimper escapes from Kagome as she senses his growing anger and with it a slight blood-lust.

"Corin! Run!" She cries out. "Run before he hurts you!"

"I've got plenty of pancakes to hit him with. I'm not leaving until I know you're safe." He sets up another pancake on his spatula.

"… And I've… had enough… of you." Youko growls. A vine lashes out from behind him.

"Corin!" Kagome screams, breaking away from Youko and shoving Corin out of the way.

"I don't remember sating that you could leave." Youko turns his attention to Kagome. The vine wraps around her waist and starts to pull her back over to him. But Corin grabs hold of Kagome, stopping the vine's progress. Youko growls even more at this. "I'm really starting to lose patience with you." Corin just sticks his tongue out at Youko in response. Youko's demonic aura increases as the fox continues to lose his temper. He goes after Corin, forcing him away from Kagome and making him drop the pancakes.

"Get off!" Corin hits Youko with his spatula.

"I do not appreciate you getting in my way." Youko growls. "I suggest you back down before I have to hurt you." _–Youko! What the hell are you doing!-_ Suichi yells in his mind. _–What does it look like I'm doing! I'm fighting!-__ -You can't! You can't hurt him! Kagome will never forgive us!- __-Then what!? He ruined my hair and now I'm pissed!-__ -Use your energy to gain Kagome's trust instead.-__ -Well that obviously can't be done here! The others get in the way too much! We'd have to take her somewhere else.-__ -So we need to convince her to come with us while avoiding any further fighting with her brother.- __-There's no way!- __-Then I don't know.- __-Then we're kidnapping her.—__Youko!- __-What!? You have a better idea? Don't worry about it Red. I'm good at this sort of stuff.-__ -I don't doubt that. Just be careful.- ­__-Duh.-_ A smirk crosses Youko's face. "Lucky you. I have someone else I'd rather tend to." He uses his demon speed to slip out of Corin's grip, grab Kagome and break through the well house doors. He quickly jumps into the trees and disappears out of sight.

Nora walks over with headphones on, completely oblivious. She stops at the entrance to the well house, pulls off her headphones and looks down at Corin. "You lost them, didn't you."

Meanwhile Youko is still jumping tree branches while holding onto Kagome. "Put me down!" Kagome yells. "If you don't put me down right now I'll smack you again!"

"If you shock me again, I'll drop you."

"…" Kagome turns away from him.

"You know… you're cute when you're quiet."

"…" Kagome's face shades a light pink.

"Aw. Now you're even cuter." Youko smirks.

"…" Kagome attempts to face further away from him.

"Aw… did I just make you get a shade darker?" Youko purrs in her ear.

"…J-j-just put-t m-me dow-wn already-dy…" Her voice wavers as she tries to remain calm.

_-Youko!- __-What? I'm just having some harmless fun.-__ -Don't get too carried away. Her friends might come after us.- __-C'mon Red! Don't be such a fun sucker. Here we have this cute girl, blushing tremendously, in our arms, in the woods, alone. And you want me to behave? You're a mental case. You want her, yet you won't let us have a bit of fun when we have the chance. What is wrong with you?-__ -Nothing. I just don't want to scare her. I don't want to push her too much.- __-Oh c'mon Red! It's not like I'm going to make her my mate tonight.-__ -Well with your mind the way it is when you see something you want…-__ -It's against the rules to force someone to become your mat. Besides, it's much more fun to play the game.- _They finally reach a clearing and Youko gently sets Kagome down on the soft grass. "That wasn't such a bad ride coming over here, now was it?" He questions her, watching her closely so she doesn't try to run.

She looks at the ground. "…No."

"Alright then. Why don't you sit down so we can talk?"

"And if I do you won't attack me?"

"Do you sense any malicious intent on me?" When he gets no reply he sits down on the grass to show her that he means no harm. She does the same.

"What did you do to Suichi? Where is he? Why did you possess him?" Youko is immediately bombarded with questions.

_-She's asking too many questions… how can I get her to shut up?-__ -Youko…-__ -Can it Red. Since you're too chicken to do anything you have no say in this.-_

"Why did you come here? What do you want from me? Are you going to give Suichi back? Who -!" All words stop as Youko silences her with a kiss, his hands pinning hers to the ground to keep her from moving.

"Well I'm going got a bike ride, you coming?" Nora ignores Corin's shocked expression.

"We're not going to go after him? He just kidnapped Kagome!"

"She'll be fine on her own for a bit."

"But that guy is a dangerous demon!"

"I'm not so sure he's a real danger…"

"WHAT!?"

"What the heck are you yelling about?" Shorin walks over to the pair. "I can hear you all the way to the house."

"About time you woke up." Nora slaps him on the back. "I'm going out, you coming?"

"Shotgun!" The twins yell out at the same time. They turn to look at each other.

"I called it first!" Corin yells.

"You were 1.5 seconds slower then me." Shorin points out.

"Why don't you race?" Nora suggests. Both take off down the steps. Nora laughs, following them.

Everything seems to shut down in Kagome's mind. All the thoughts that were going through her head at a non-stop pace mere seconds ago seemed to freeze and vanish. She tries to think of something, anything, but she's suddenly lost the ability as her mind has gone blank.

_-I win.-_ Youko gloats in his mind. He slowly backs up to sit in front of her; a small smile crosses his face as he notices the shocked expression on Kagome's face. "Do you have anything to say now?"

"…" Kagome turns a light shade of red as her mind returns and stares silently at the ground.

_-I wonder what would happen if…-__ -Youko!- _Suichi cuts him off. _–Stop spazzing Red.-_"What's wrong? Couldn't handle a simple kiss?" Youko laughs at her stunned and slightly embarrassed expressions. "I can do better then that if you'd like." He purrs.

"…J-just tell m-me what y-you w-want."

Youko moves to sit right next to her. She tries to back away from him but he grabs hold of her hand. He gently pulls her toward him and leans down slightly to whisper in her ear…


	8. Realization an SeriousAdvice from da PM?

Ch

_**Ch.8**__ – Realization and Serious Advice from the Pancake Master?_

"You." His lightly purring voice slowly registers in her mind. She remains frozen in place, speechless for a few minutes before she feels something tickling her ear. She glances over to find Youko nuzzling her ear. At first she wanted to distance herself from him, to run. But she couldn't get the tickling sensation out of her thoughts and soon found herself not only blushing, but laughing a bit as well. Youko's ears perk up as the light sound of her laughter reaches them. _–I so win.-_

When Kagome realizes some sort of feeling starting to form she quickly backs up, putting distance between her and Youko. A small whine escapes from Youko at the slight loss of her close presence. "What did you do with Suichi?" Kagome asks lightly, but firmly.

"How badly do you want him?" Youko inquires.

"… Why did you possess my friend?"

"I haven't possessed him. I've simply switched places with him. You can have him back later."

"…Nani?" Kagome looks at him in bewilderment. "Who are you?"

"My name is Youko. I share this body with Suichi. I've been with him since before he was born."

"Why?"

"Well… a long time ago I was the most skilled thief throughout the world. I made a foolish mistake one time on one of my missions and was severely injured. Being in a dying state I used the last of my spirit energy to seal myself within an unborn child. He was normal until I regained consciousness and my strength when he was in high school. And from then on I've taught him very well how to handle his capabilities." Youko glances over at Kagome to find her listening intently. "… You're not running away and calling me a monster?" He becomes curious.

"Do you want me to?" Her question catches him off guard and he barely catches himself from falling over.

_-Am I hearing her correctly?-_ Youko is completely shocked. Suichi takes this opportunity to take control and shift back to human form. "You're not scared?" He looks up to meet soft, brown eyes.

"No. Should I be?"

"… Isn't it a little strange to have a demon living with you?"

"Not for me. As long as you don't pull any stupid stunts and I don't see you killing any people I'll let you stay."

He looks at her in amazement. He tries to resist the urge to hug her but the temptation is too great. He is immediately right next to her with his arms wrapped around her. "Thank you."

"…" A light blush seeps across Kagome's face. "…um… you're welcome?" She hugs him gently in turn, causing him to smile. "… Can we go home now?"

"Sure." He slowly lets go of her.

Kagome looks around. "Home…"

"I know Youko jumped a lot of trees and kind of stranded you out here with him. Can you tell which way to get back home?"

"Hmm… give me a few minutes." Kagome kneels down, bringing her hands up in a praying motion and starts to mutter under her breath. Even with his strained demon hearing, Suichi is unable to make out whatever she is chanting. After a few minutes she gets up and points to a set of trees diagonally across from them. "That way."

"Alright." Suichi holds a hand out to her. "Shall we?"

"… Nani?" Kagome looks up at him confused.

"Incase something happens. I don't bite, I promise."

"…um…ok…" She takes his hand and they start walking back. After a short while Kagome notices that a path has been forming in front of them. "How are the plants moving?" Kagome asks out loud.

"I asked them to."

"…" Kagome stops walking, letting her hand fall. Suichi looks back at her questioningly.

"What's wrong?"

"You… you really are the same…" Realization hits her as she starts to freak out. "You really are a demon!"

"Kagome…" He reaches out to her gently.

"No!" A strange aura knocks him back. "I will not let this happen again!" She takes off running.

"Kagome!" Suichi calls after her. "Kagome!"

Kagome comes running out of the forest. She quickly rushes up to her room and locks the door behind her. Suichi reaches the house a few seconds later and reaches the top of the stairs in time to see her door slam shut. He carefully walks over and knocks gently on Kagome's bedroom door. "Kagome?"

"Go away!" The faint sound of crying can be heard coming from inside the room.

"Kagome_ please_!"

"I will not go through that again! Now go away and leave me alone!" The sound of something hitting the door echoes through the air.

Suichi flinches slightly, turns and walks to his room. _–She hates me.-_ After a couple of restless hours he finally drifts off to sleep. _–I will not let it end like this.-_ Youko takes over and shifts forms, being careful not to wake Suichi. He carefully slips into Kagome's room. Everything is in ruin, books pulled off of shelves, notebooks torn apart, clothes thrown all over the place. He notices one book by itself, the object she threw at the door. He picks it up and opens it to find a photo album. But there's nothing normal about it. The first picture is a group photo and he recognizes the background as a clearing in his forest 500 years ago. _–How in the hell?-_

"…Inu…yasha…"

"Hmm?" Youko walks over to the bed to find Kagome tangled in blankets, tears streaming down her face, holding onto a picture frame with a death grip. He gently sits down on the bed next to her, pushing a few strands of hair out of her face. Her eyes open slightly and Youko freezes, unsure of what to do.

"…Inu…yasha…"

"Kagome?" Youko questions, confused.

"…Inu… yasha…" She reaches out to him, dropping the picture frame.

Youko quickly glances at the photo before it falls to the floor. _–A hanyou?-_ He questions the dog demon with silver hair and ears. He flinches slightly, forgetting about Kagome until she grabs hold of his arm. He looks over into tear-filled, sleep-filled eyes. "Kagome?"

"Inu…yasha." She pulls him closer. "Inuyasha please don't leave me again." She cries, holding him close.

"…What happened?" Youko tries to gain information.

"You don't remember? You died. After our final battle against Naraku, right before he was purified into dust, he slashed you with a poisoned scythe. I tried to heal you, but you told me to just leave." She cries. "But I couldn't leave you!" She hugs him. "Please don't leave me again Inuyasha. It was so hard to watch you die in my arms, to watch as you were taken away."

"Kagome…" Youko hugs her in turn. "I will never let that happen again… I promise. Now go back to sleep." He lets her go and slowly gets up to leave.

"No!" Kagome grabs him, her arms around his neck, and pulls him back onto the bed. "Please, at least stay with me tonight."

"Kagome, I –"

"Please! I'm just asking for tonight! You can leave in the morning! Just please stay with me tonight!"

"…" _–Suichi is going to freak out in the morning. But in her state of mind right now she thinks I'm a hanyou. She's broken and is asking for comfort. How can I say no to a cute face like that?-_ Youko looks over at Kagome to find her looking at him with big, pleading eyes. He sighs lightly before responding. "… Alright."

"Yes! Thank you!" She kisses him on the cheek stunning him and causing a light red line to appear across his face. Unsure of what to say to her, Youko just remains silent and lets her pull him back against a pillow. She throws a blanket over him before lying down beside him, making sure to hold onto him. "Good night, Inuyasha." Kagome is immediately asleep.

_-Now what?-_ Youko tries to come up with something. _–How do you tell a broken girl that you're not her dead lover and that you'd like to be her new lover without scaring her?-_ He falls asleep a few minutes later, still trying to think of something. The next morning Suichi stirs and opens his eyes to find himself in a different room. He feels a weight on his chest and looks down to find a sleeping Kagome holding onto him. _–Youko…-_ There is no response from the fox. _–Youko!- __-What now Red?-__ -What the hell happened last night!? How did we get here!? And why are we in bed with Kagome!?- __-Calm down Red, I only came here to check on her last night. She asked me to stay.-__ -I don't believe that! She was scared of us last night. She ran from us. Give me back control tight now.- __-But Red!-_ Youko whines. _–No.-_ Suichi shifts them back to human form. As soon as he does the door is kicked open.

"Kagome!" Corin walks in with a plate full of pancakes. "You have to eat pancakes with me!"

"..mm… huh?" Kagome stirs and slowly sits up.

"You how to eat pancakes with me –" He stops mid-sentence and points at Suichi. "… Why is he here?"

"…huh?" Kagome looks over to find Suichi sitting next to her. "… I have no idea?"

"Awkward…" The room falls silent for a few minutes before Corin speaks up again. "Hey how come you let him cuddle with you last night? I was sober. I told you that I wouldn't try anything."

"Corin, I don't remember letting him in here."

"So you let him sneak in and spend the night!? That's not fair!"

"Corin I -"

"And you." Corin turns to Suichi. "How dare you not ask me first. Don't you have any manners? Go back to your own room."

_-Let me talk.-_ _- no Youko.- __-C'mon Red! He's trying to order us around!-__ - stay out of it Youko, this is all you're fault.- _Suichi quietly leaves and goes back to his own room.

"Where are Nora and Shorin?" Kagome inquires, changing the subject.

"They're still knocked out from their battle last night." Corin answers, walking over to sit down on the bed. "They refuse to wake well up for breakfast. Now eat your pancakes." He sets a plate down in front of her and walks over to the door.

"Corin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He nods and walks down the hall. Some odd minutes later he knocks on Suichi's door and walks in. "Here's your pancakes."

"Thank you."

"I don't know what happened last night but if you hurt her I'll kill you. And if your demon friend kidnaps Kagome again, I'll make sure that it is the last time he sees her." Corin is very serious. "Keep that in mind."

"…" Suichi doesn't have time to respond as Corin walks out, leaving him with a plate of pancakes.

"Um… Suichi?" A soft voice reaches his ears from the doorway.

"Yes?" he looks up from his sketch book to find Kagome watching him intently. "Please come in. what can I help you with?"

"… About last night …"

"Yes?" He gently prods her.

"… How did you get in my room?"

"I went to make sure you were ok. You were crying and I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt."

"And how … did you end up in my bed?"

"You grabbed me."

"…oh… um… heh…" Kagome can't figure out what to say.

"You thought I looked like someone you knew."

"… You snuck into my room in your demon form!" Kagome turns to run but Suichi grabs hold of her hand.

"Kagome please! I only went in to check on you. I Switched forms because I didn't want to wake anyone up. I know what happened to Inuyasha. Last Night I promised you that I would never let that happen again."

"Inu…yasha…"


	9. Youko vs Shorin

Ch

_**Ch.9**__ – Youko vs. Shorin_

Kagome looks as though she's about to cry. Suichi gently tugs her closer and hugs her. "I'm sorry Kagome." She tries to slip out of his embrace but he just tightens his grip. "Please Kagome, don't shut me out." _–May I?__ –Not right now Youko.- __-But I want to talk to her Red.-__ -In a few minutes.-_ "Please don't shut me out Kagome." He repeats. "I'm sorry about what you've been through. I promise I won't let anything like that happen again. Just please give me a chance?"

"… Suichi I –"

"Suichi if your demon friend has taken her I'll –" Corin bursts into the room. He stops mid-sentence as he finds Kagome is Suichi's room, hugging him. "What are you doing out of your room?"

"… Um…" Kagome seems to be at a loss for words.

"We're just talking. You have rudely interrupted our conversation and entered my room uninvited. I would appreciate it if you would please leave." Suichi's eyes flash gold before returning to their normal green.

"But you're hugging her!" Corin points out the obvious.

"… I'm going to ask you nicely to please leave in order to avoid unwanted confrontation." His eyes quickly flash gold again.

"You –"

"Please…" Kagome cuts him off, sensing the rise in the demonic energy flooding the room. "Just go Corin."

"But Kagome –"

"I said go!" She glares at him. Corin turns around and walks out of the room without another sound.

_-I love her- _Youko smirks as her watches Corin leave the room. "Kagome?"

"Suichi I –"

"Where's Kagome!?" Shorin nearly breaks down the door.

_-I'll kill him.-_ Youko growls, holding Kagome closer.

"Kagome!" Shorin scolds, pulling her away from Suichi and holding onto her.

"…Shorin?"

"I was going to take you out today, remember?"

_-What?!-_ Youko snaps. _–Is there competition?!-_He glares at the human holding Kagome. _–I shall smite thee.-_

"… um…" Kagome slowly removes Shorin's hands from her person. "No."

"You don't remember?"

"No, I don't."

"I was going to take you out for tacos. But I guess since you've forgotten your promise I'll just go get a drink with Nora and try to forget how heartbroken I am that you would forget about me…" Shorin starts to slowly walk out of the room.

_-That's right, leave. You've been rejected.-_ _-Youko, that's not nice.- __-Since when do I care Red?-_

"No… please…" Kagome grabs Shorin by the arm, pulls him over and hugs him. "I'm sorry."

_-WHAT!?-_ Shorin hugs her in turn, he looks over at Suichi and smirks, making Youko snap inside. _–He's dead.-_

"I would feel better if you'd go out with me tonight?" Shorin asks in a sad tone.

"… Well you did say that I promised. I don't remember it, but a promise is a promise." Kagome slowly turns to Suichi, letting go of Shorin. "I'm sorry Suichi."

"Kagome?"

"Yes Shorin?"

"I suggest you change into something for dancing."

"We're… going dancing?" Kagome perks up.

"Depends on the time. But tacos first."

"Tacos!" Kagome is immediately out the door, down the hall and shutting the door to her room behind her.

As soon as she's gone Suichi's eyes immediately turn gold as Youko becomes upset. "I was having a very important conversation with her." His voice is cold, laced with anger.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but notice that you were trying to steal my girl. But don't worry, I'll make sure to stop your conversation earlier next time." Shorin turns to walk away.

"I will not yield to a human. I will kill you within a moments notice if given the opportunity, so I suggest you watch your back."

Shorin just waves at him as he walks out of the room. About an hour later Youko watches them through Suichi's bedroom window, bristling with every move. Kagome runs out in a small pair of jeans and a black shirt with a slit at the top, the collar open to see a small, silver chain around her neck. She runs over to Shorin, jumping into his arms with a smile on her face. He laughs as he catches her and spins her around before leading her to his car, his hand around her waist. He looks back, making eye contact you Youko. He smirks at the fox before making sure Kagome's in the passenger seat, getting in the driver's seat and driving off.

_-How DARE he!-_ Youko snaps. _–What a foolish mortal to come between me and my future mate!-_ He grabs hold of the window pane and rips it upwards, nearly ripping the window out. _–That's it! I'm following them!- __-No.- __-Don't you dare turn on me Red!-_Youko snarls. _–That girl is ours'!-__ - I agree that I like Kagome a lot myself and that I'd prefer to be the one to take her out. However, stalking them will only satisfy Shorin.- __-Then what do you suggest we do Red?-__ -I'm sure we can find a way to be a lot more exciting then Shorin…- __-Really?-_Youko becomes curious. _–think Youko, how can we win her in a way Shorin can't?- __-Ah, I know a few things…-_

Kagome and Shorin return a few hours after sunset, slowly pulling up beside the curb near the bottom of the steps. Shorin slowly opens the passenger door for Kagome and Youko notices her sleeping in the passenger seat; this time from Kagome's bedroom window. _–Aw.-_ He watches as Shorin shakes her awake. _–I'd prefer to carry her up the stairs if she's sleeping.- __-And wake her up later.-_ Youko smirks. His grin gets wider as he watches Kagome protest in being woken up. _–She would not be whining if it were me.-_ Kagome lazily gets up and trudges up the steps, Shorin following slowly behind her. Kagome slowly opens the door to her room…


	10. Chance

ShadowSilverMixVixen - Help would be wonderful. I am currently stuck on a chapter not yet posted and seem to have hit a brick wall. However, your e-mail address did not come through. If you could message me that would be wonderful. I can't tell you that I'll use your ideas to the details you like best, but I will take them into consideration. I might use them in different ways, or tweak them a bit. But I would love a little bit of help.

For my other nice readers: If you would like to suggest some help, feel free to message me.

_**Ch. 10**__ – Chance_

"BOO!" Nora drops down from the ceiling just inside the door.

"Eeee!!" Kagome screams, making Youko's ears flatten from the painful sound.

_-We shall make sure she doesn't make that noise.-__ -Does Nora know that we're in here?-_

"Yo Kags! How was your date!?" Nora all but yells.

_-I don't think so Red.-_

"Nora!" Kagome punches her in the arm. "Get out of my room!

"Oh! So it was that kind of date huh?" She winks.

"Nora you perv! Get out!" Kagome shoves the laughing girl out of the room as her face turns slightly red. "You're horrible!"

"Eh you love me anyways!" Nora has a smirk on her face.

"Nye!" Kagome makes a face as she shuts the door on her friend. She waits a minute to adjeust to the darkened room. Without really looking around she walks over to the bed and collapses on the blankets.

_-Now it's time for some fun.-_

Kagome stirs as she feels someone open her hand. "Wha?" She opens her eyes but they're already gone. She looks over to find a rose, startled, she turns on the light by her bed. She finds a note attatched to the stem of the roase and immediately reads it out of curiousity.

**Come to the window**

** If you so desire**

She tries to stay put, but curiousity overrides her judgement and she soon finds herself across the room, standing in fron tof the window. She slowly opens the window and looks around outside curiously.

"Are you looking for me?" Youko appears outside her window, sitting on the roof.

"… Is this…" Kagome holds up the rose. "… from you?"

"Indeed it is."

"… what… do you want?"

Youko is immediately right in front of her, looking into her eyes. "You never answered my question before."

"…" Kagome just stares at him.

"Please Kagome…" Youko carefully runs a hand through her hair. "I promise I won't let anything like that happen again."

"… but I – "

"Are you really happy with Shorin? Is he really the one you want to spend the rest of your life with? Do you love him?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Please, at least consider me."

"But I don't really know you."

"Yes. You do. I told you about my past when I took you into the forest. You've lived with Suichi for a while. I know you felt something for me in the clearing. Don't you remember…" He leans over slightly to whisper in her ear. "…How I made you laugh?"

"…" A light red line appears on Kagome's face, causing Youko to smile. "N-n-no…"

"Oh I'm sure you do." He purrs.

"H-how would y-you know?"

"Because… you're blushing."

"So Shorin… tell us what happened on you date. I hope you didn't try anything perverted with her already." Nora grins.

"Shut up. Only someone with your ditry mind would ever concoct something like that this soon."

"Oh so you are plotting something sketchy!"

"I will not do anything bad to Kagome. She would not be able to handle anything your mind can come up with."

"Did you find Kagome in Suichi's room earlier?" Corin speaks up.

"Yeah, I did. I'm not sure I like him enough to let him have her."

"So will you do anything if he tries to steal her?" Nora asks.

"I did tonight by removing her from his room and taking her out. She had so much fun on our date that she fell asleep in the car on the way homme. It was cute."

"…" kagome's face gets slightly redder.

"What?" Youko smiles. "no comment?" He slips through the window and wraps his arms around her in a hug. "You will consider me, yes?" He nuzzles her, causing her to laugh. "Yes?"

"…S-suichi…"

"I am known as Youko in this form." He continues to nuzzle her. "You will consider me, yes?"

"B-but… I…" Kagome trails off.

"Please?" he purrs. "I'm not asking you to love me right away. Just give me some time. All I'm asking for is a chance."

"Tomorrow."

"Yes?"

"Nothing tonight." Kaogme yawns. "I'm too tired to deal with another guy right now."

"Very well." Youko switches back to Suichi. "But at least let me help you."

"Wha?" Kagome gets really sleepy and nearly falls over. Suichi catches her and picks her up. He brings her over to the bed and gently sets her down on the blankets. She is immediately asleep as her head hits the pillow. Suichi smiles as he slowly pulls the blankets over her.

"Sweet dreams, Kagome." He whispers as he slips out of the room.

Kagome slowly opens her eyes to find herslef tucked in bed. _–How did I get here? Last ting I really remember is passing out on the bed after my date with Shorin… how did I manage to get in the bed?-_ Her eyes quickly search the room for anything out of the ordinary. She sighs in relief when she finds that she has the bed to herself. She sits up, something falls off her pillow. She looks over to find a thornless rose. _–where did this come from?- _She finds the notw and she instantly remembers her window encounter with a certain fox demon. "Youko…"

A few minutes later she hears a knock on her door. She walks over and opens it to find suichi in a pair of jeans and a wite tank top, his hair still dripping slightly; showing that he had recently come out of the shower. "Did you call for me?"

"…" Kagome just stands there, shocked.

"I tried to get here as quickly as I could. Do you need help with something?"

"…um … no. I… um… Did you tuck me in last night?" she holds up his rose.

"I did… was that wrong of me? If it bothers you then I'll try not ot do that again."

"No… thank you." Before anything else can be said the doorbell rings. Kaogme looks at Suichi, sighs and goes to answer it. "Yes?"


	11. Hojo joins the battle

_**Hi. I am having some trouble with a couple of scenes in a future chapter. And so I'd like to see if we can pull off a small contest. And whoever wins, will have their writing appear in a future chapter of this fanfic. **_

_**Topic: 2 scenes**_

**_ Subjects : Scene 1: An elegant mansion behind a huge set of gates with a big staircase leading up to the front door._**

**_ Scene 2: An enchanting ballroom with a small orchestra playing music, tables with food + drink, and a terrace overlooking the ocean._**

_**Oh yeah! If anyone would like I need help with a character as well. Trying to settle into college work I'm having a hard time thinking. ; So... yeah! Here is an invite to a second contest! XD **_

**_ Male  
_**

**_ Race: Demon (need both forms)_**

**_ Side: Evil_**

**_Pictures would be wonderful if you could so I know what kind of outfit is his favorite. He's suppossed to be very powerful but I haven't come up with any specific powers for him. But he owns the place the scene contest is for. _**

_**PLEASE HELP ME OUT!! Like I said, if your writing is chosen it will appear in the fanfic in a future chapter, it will not be tweaked or shuffled or anything. It will be completely your scene(s). I can't g**_**_uarantee anything about the character however, but I will try to keep him the same for you. It kind of depends on his powers.Anyone is welcome to try either or both or all or whatever. JUST PLEASE GIVE IT A SHOT IF YOU CAN! _**

**_F.Y.I. THIS WILL MAKE ME UPDATE THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS A BIT FASTER! (The incentive... )_**

_**Ch.11**__ – Hojo joins the battle_

"Good morning Kagome." Hojo stands there with a smile on his face. "Might I take you out for some coffee?"

"I don't like coffee."

"How about some hot chocolate? Please?" Kagome sighs and nods her head. "Thank you!" the boy in front of her smiles. "This is for you." He hands her a pink rose.

"Give me a few minutes ok?" Kagome asks, carefully holding the rose in her hand.

"Take your time!" Hojo beams.

Kagome walks back upstairs to her room and drops the rose on her desk, pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her closet. "Why does there have to be three of them?" Kagome asks out loud to herself.

"Three what?" Kagome turns to find Suichi standing in her doorway, his hair now dry.

"Hojo was at the door. He's asked me to go out for some hot chocolate. I shouldn't be gone too long."

"You didn't answer my question." _–she's going out with someone else again today.- __-Damn that Hojo. I thought we already told him that he can't have her.-_

Kagome sighs. "Three guys. Honestly, can't you guys find some other girl to harass?"

"… I'm sorry?"

She sighs again. "Don't worry about it. I'm just ranting, don't mind me. I think the only reason why I'm actually leaving the house with Hojo of all people is because I'm in a good mood. I slept rather well last night."

"Really? That's good." _–She slept well because we tucked her in.-_ Youko smirks on the inside. _–That means that she likes us.-_ Suichi notices something on Kagome's desk. "What's that?"

"Oh it's a pink rose. Hojo gave it to me. You'd think he'd know, if he really likes me, that I'm not really fond of the color pink. I'll have to do something with that later. Unlike the one you gave me, that one has thorns." She runs down the hall to the bathroom with her choice of outfit.

_-He didn't even have the mind to think about if the thorns hurt her. He will lose this small battle.-__ -Indeed.-_

"Bye, see you late Suichi!" Kagome runs down the hall.

Kagome quietly sits in a small café with Hojo sitting across the table from her. "What do you want from me Hojo?"

"I'm just really happy that you came out with me today, Kagome. It really means a lot to me."

"But there is a question on your mind."

"…Heh… you know me better than anyone. I was… just wondering… if you'd give me a second chance? Please?"

"Hojo… I already have two guys who like me right now."

"That's ok. I can take up the challenge! Honest!"

_-As if. There's no way you can compete against the fox demon, he'd kill you for sure. "And he's cute." Wait. Where the hell did that come from?-_ Kagome sighs. "I'm not so sure I can handle three guys competing against each other for my feelings."

"Please Kagome!? At least let me try?! I know I screwed up a lot in the past but I'm better now! Please give me a chance?!"

"You're lucky… I'm in a good mood right now."

"Yes!"

Kagome walks back to the house. "I'm home!" When there is no response she starts to search the house. _–Since when is there only silence to greet me?-_ No one is on the first floor. She checks the basement. No one. She checks the attic. Still no one. She sighs and begins checking the second floor. She stops at her room to find a small vase with two roses in it slightly crushing the pink rose from Hojo on her desk. "Suichi…" **THUD!** Kagome walks over to Suichi's room to find him trying to get up off the floor, his eyes barely open. "Suichi?"

"…K… Kagome?" He looks up at her with sleep-filled eyes. "… Sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry." She kneels down on the floor next to him. "I didn't mean to wake you up. You don't have to magically appear whenever I say your name ya know."

"But… I want to…" He falls over, his head landing on her shoulder.

"…" A light red line appears across Kagome's face. Suddenly something hits her in the back, pushing her over and causing her to fall over onto Suichi, their faces only centimeters apart. FLASH! Kagome looks over to find a toy car with a video camera attached to it. "Nora!" Kagome reaches for the car. "Nora you jerk!"

Suichi wakes up and moves, causing Kagome to be pulled back. His eyes widen slightly as he notices the position he's in. "Kagome?"

"Suichi!" Her face turns slightly red. "Um… I um… heh."

"Hey Shorin! You're missing the show!" Nora yells across the trainging room. "Get the hell over here!"

"What is it now?" Shorin sighs. "I have to go get Kagome before that demon tries anything." He lazily walks over and looks over to see Kagome and Suichi o a TV screen. He looks over at Nora to find her grinning with a controller in her hand.

"He's surprised on the outside because he thinks she did this herself. And on the inside he's trying to hold himself back." She looks up to find Shorin glaring at her. "What? I need some form of entertainment."

"You're making it easier for him to win her."

"… but I'm getting some nice blackmail photos."

_-that's adorable! Look at her Red!-_ Youko gets excited. _–I know. But I don't remember how we ended up like this.- __-Who the hell cares!-_ SNAP! A flash stuns him for a second before he notices the toy car a few feet away. _–That must be what she was trying to reach when we woke up. That's gotta be Nora.- __-So what? This just makes it easier for us to get close to her.-_ Youko smiles. _–Let me handle the camera, you take care of Kagome. Look, she still can't use words. Why don't you help her out with that Red?-_ _-I think I will.-_ "Kagome?"

"Suichi… I... um…. Sorry… um…"

"Shh." Suichi holds his index finger gently on her lips. "Shh."


	12. Disturbance

_**Ch. 12**__ – Disturbance_

"Oooooh! Shorin that fox demon is stealing Kagome!" Nora exclaims. All of a sudden a venus fly trap with flower petals around its neck appears on the screen. "What the hell is that!?" It shakes a leaf, like a waving hand and opens its mouth to reveal several sharp teeth before the screen goes blank. "NOOOOOOO!"

"What is it now?!" Shorin walks back over to the whining girl.

"No fair! No fair! No fair!" Nora whines like a child. "I don't know what the hell that was but it ate my camera! And just when the action was heating up!"

"Serves you right for spying on them." Shorin starts to walk off but Nora grabs his shirt and pulls him back over.

"And just where do you think you're going?!"

"I have a date to plan."

"Oh no you don't! You're gonna help me get my camera back first!"

"You do not have to make excuses." Suichi states calmly. "And you do not need to try to use a lot of words. Use small words if you're not really sure what to say. I won't get upset." He removes his index finger from her lips. Kagome quickly gets off him and sits on the floor.

"Suichi… I did not mean to fall on you. Nora pushed me."

"But you could've gotten up to go after her. Instead, you stayed close to me and tried to get ahold her camera."

"… I didn't want to wake you up."

"You woke me up with your yelling."

"Oh… um… sorry…"

"You seem a bit stressed, what's on your mind? If you don't mind me asking." Suichi sits up, leaning against the bed.

"Well…" Kagome sighs. "I don't know… maybe its that I have three different guys that want to date me."

"I could see that as stressful. In my old neighborhood, I had a whole group of girls that wanted to date me. They called themselves my fanclub."

"Ouch. That's how my friends were about Hojo. It was really annoying because I didn't like the guy at all. He was the most popular guy in school, I mean any girl would fall for him, he could have almost anyone he wanted. But he just wasn't my type and lucky me, he decided I was."

"Yeah, I understand why you were so upset with him before."

"But… recently… since he came back from his family vacation he's been different. Like instead of suffocating me.. he actually asked me to go out for hot chocolate. And he actually talked to me at the café. He didn't try to force me into anything."

"that does sound very different from the guy I met before…" _–I don't like this Youko.- __-He sounds suspiscious.-_

"I'm not sure what to do about him."

"Well –" BEEP1 BEEP! BEEP! An alarm goes off on Suichi's cell phone. _–Damn it, not now Koenma.- __-Just ignore the toddler.-_ "I –" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Suichi sighs. "One sec."

"Ok."

Suichi reaches over to his desk and grabs his cell phone, flipping it over an answering it. "Yes?"

"Kurama! I need you over here now!" A whiny voice yells over the phone.

"I'm busy at the moment Koenma."

"I don't care! I want the whole team here immediately! This is important!"

"It better be."

"Meet Boton in the park! The others should be there soon!" Click.

He sighs yet again, turning to Kagome. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to put out conversation o hold. I've just been called into work. Please don't be mad at me?"

"Don't worry about it. It be rally important if your boss is calling you. I should probably be cleaning anyways." Kagome gets up and laves the room.

_-It better be a life or death situation or I'm going to kill that toddler.-_ Youko growls. _–We had her!-__ -I know Youko, I agree.-_ Suichi quickly changes into his maroon outfit and runs out of the house to the park down the street. A boy with black hair in a green outfit appears, coming from the opposite direction, another boy with orange hair in a blue outfit follows several feet behind him.

"You Kurama!" the boy in the green outfit waves at Suichi.

"Hello Yusuke, Kuwabara."

"Damn it Yurameshi!" The boy with orange hair punches his friend in the arm. "Why do you always have to run so far ahead of me! ?"

"Because you're too slow, baka." A short boy with spiked black hair dressed in all black, a sword strapped to his side appears next to Suichi.

"Why you little shrimp! I otta flatten you for that!"

"Enough. Lets just see what Koenma wants quickly so we can go back to our respective homes." Suichi suggests. They all walk through the park quickly and enter the forrest behind it.

"Long time no see boys!" A cheery, blue-haired girl in a pink kimono sitting on a floating oar appears in front of them. "Lord Koenma Is expecting you ."

"It better be important!" Both Yusuke and Kurama exclaim.

"Keiko is pissed that I had to cancel another date!" Yusuke explains as they follow Boton to a portal. "How about you Kurama?"

"Well, I found a girl that both Youko and I like." Yusuke and Hiei both freeze, turning to look at him curiously. "I know, I was shocked too. The only problem is that she has two other guys after her."

"Damn." Yusuke whistles. "that sucks."

"I can get rid of them for you." Hiei states, shocking everyone except Kurama.

"Hiei, you can't solve everything by killing people." Kurama shakes his head.

"Yes I can."

"C'mon! Let's go! Lord Koenma is waiting!" Boton scolds and pushes them through the portal. They step into a big office, the portal disappearing behind them.

"How dare you bring me more paperwork at a time like this!" A toddler-looking guy with 'Jr.' on his head whacks a blue ogre with an over-sized stamp.

"I'm sorry sir! I'm sorry!" The ogre apologizes.

"Lord Koenma." Boton appears beside him. "The Rekai Tentei are here." She gestures to the four guys standing at the back of the room.

"Finally!" Koenma shews off the ogre and turns his attention to them. "Now for your mission today I want you to check something out. I'm not quite sure what all of the details are but it could be a potential threat." A screen comes down from the ceiling with a map on it. "Now you see all these spots?" Koenma points to 4 red dots on the screen. "Some lower level demons were seen gathering at these places. But a few minutes ago they disappeared from out radar."

"what do you mean disappeared?" Yusuke questions the toddler.

"these are the locations, but we can no longer detect their presence. Its as if they've completely vanished."

"Can't someone else do this job? It's so lame!" Kuwabara complains.

"He thinks a bigger demon might've picked them off." Kurama answers for Koenma.

"there's only four locations. Pick your target so we can get this done quickly." Hiei orders.

_-Wait a minute…-_ Kurama looks closely at the board. _–That spot over there is near Hojo's house isn't it?- __-Look closer Red. They're all near him and what Kagome told us earlier, he's been acting all too nice. Let's check it out.-__ -Agreed.-_

Kurama slowly approaches his target, a broken down building. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Hello?"

"Hey! All the gus here have been completel torn apart! It's really creepy!" Kuwabara panics over the phone. "You better be careful Kurama!" Click.

He slowly enters the building, immediately checking for traps. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Yes?'

"Yo! Everyone is completely massacred over here." Yusuke sounds slightly uneasy. "It looks like someone had some sick fun and a lot of it. And by the looks of it, he's not exactly a pushover."

"I understand. Thank you Yusuke." Click. Kurama searches the room to find nothing. So he continues down a hallway, stopping to check the rooms. Each room is worse then the next. _–Who would do this?-_

"If you're looking for the killer… boo!" Someone comes up behind him and before he can blink he is knocked to the ground, his vision starting to get blurry. "Welcome… Youko Kurama." He is finally knocked unconscious.


	13. MORE Problems Arise

_**Ch. 13**__ – Problems Arise_

**BZZT!** An alarm wakes Kagome. "Hmm?" she whacks her alarm clock. "I'm not done my afternoon nap yet." She rolls over and starts to fall back asleep. **BZZT!** "Shut up!" She demands from under a blanket. **BZZZZZT!** "Alright!" she sits up, glaring at her alarm clock. "… Wait a minute… that's not my alarm clock… Oh my gosh! Someone's at the door!" she runs out of her room and down the stairs. She quickly whips open the door. "Sorry!"

"Oh. Did I wake you up?" Hojo stands there. "I'm sorry, I can come back later if you'd like?"

"No, it's alright. I should be getting up anyway. Do you need something?"

"Well… I was wondering if you'd go to a party with me. Are you free tonight?"

"Um.. Well… Suichi had mentioned wanting to go out… but he's not here. He got called into work a few hours ago. He should be back by now… I wonder what's keeping him…"

"Aw… c'mon Kagome. You shouldn't have to wait for a guy. Come out with me tonight. I promise it'll be fun."

"Hmm… I don't know Hojo. Something just isn't right. I think I should stay and make sure Suichi gets home safe."

"No!"

"… what?!"

"I mean… don't you trust me? I promise I'll behave."

Kagome sighs, shaking her head. "I just don't feel like going out tonight, I'm sorry." She starts to shut the door but Hojo pushes it back open, grabbing hold of her hand.

"Kagome _please_!?" He kneels before her. "This is a very important party and I would love it if you would be my date tonight. My parents are going to be there and they really want to see you."

"… You owe me for this."

"Of course! Thank you so much Kagome!" He hugs her. "I'll pick you up in an hour; I have a few errands to run first, ok?"

"Whatever."

"Thanks again Kagome! You're the best!" he hugs her again before running off, down the shrine steps.

"Are you awake yet?" Kurama hears someone whisper in his ear. "You better wake up soon… I'm getting bored."

"…" Kurama starts to stir and slowly opens his eyes, looking around the room. He notices an elf-looking girl with long green hair, green eyes in a green outfit with a vine tattoo on her arm. "… Who are you?"

"Oh you're awake. Good."

"Who are you?" He repeats.

"Any why should I tell you, Youko Kurama?"

"Because you know my name, but I don't know yours. Its common courtesy."

"You do act like a gentleman, that's especially nice, and coming from a thief, impressive."

"Will you please tell me your name?" Kurama sighs.

"Kusaki."

"Hn." Hiei searches the building he's in. "I know you're here. Come out of hiding, baka onna."

"You're no fun." An elf-looking girl with red hair and red eyes, wearing a red outfit with a band of fire tattooed on her arm steps out from behind a statue. "Hiei Jaganshi."

"Hn."

"Welcome…" Yusuke freezes as an eerie voice echoes off the walls. "Yusuke Yurameshi."

"What the hell do you want?! Who are you!?"

"I'm the one who gets to handle your fate."

"Get out here and show yourself!"

"Very well." An elf-looking girl with blue hair and blue eyes wearing a blue outfit with a band of water tattooed on her arm jumps down from the ceiling.

"… You're a… girl…" Yusuke looks at her oddly.

"You gotta problem with that?" She glares at him.

"I don't usually fight girls. We always have male demons in our way."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you. But you're stuck with me."

"… What's your name?"

"Why? Wanna ask me out? Human isn't my type."

"No. I lie to know the names of the people who get in my way so I can remember how I took them out."

"Mizu."

"Whoa!" Kuwabara is suddenly smashed against a wall by a big gust of wind. "What… what is this!?" He panics as he is pressed closer and closer to the wall, slowly starting to crush his insides.

"Is that all you've got you're too easy." A voice echoes from behind him. "Such an easy kill… you're boring."

"…W… Who the… hell are… you!? Why… don't you… fight me… fairly like… a real man!?" Kuwabara tries to yell as he's slowly being crushed.

"Because… I'm no male."

**BZZT!** Kagome quickly grabs a sweater and runs downstairs, slipping on her shoes and answering the door. "Yes?"

"Kagome! Are you ready?" Hojo stands there in a black suit.

"Oh… um… I didn't know this party was going to be really dressy… um… I'm afraid I don't have a good enough dress."

"Don't worry about it Kagome, I've got one for you at my house." He smiles.

"You… bought me a dress?" Kagome looks at him bewildered. "…Why?"

"I figured you haven't gone to many parties much like this one. Don't worry, my mother picked it out. I haven't seen it yet; I only went and picked it up. But come on, I'd like to make sure that you have enough time to get ready." He offers her his arm. Kagome hesitantly lets him pull her away from the house, down the shrine steps and to his car.

About 20 minutes later Hojo leads Kagome to his room and shows her the bathroom across the hall where his mother set out make up for her. "There's an hour's time before we have to leave." He walks downstairs to the living room.

"An hour… great." Kagome shuts the bedroom door, checking to make sure it's securely locked before walking over to the bed and checking out the dress. "She even thought of shoes and jewelry… this was definitely planned. I'm not sure I like this…"


	14. Your Type

_**Ch.14**__ – Your Type_

"Who is your leader Kusaki?"

"Does it look like you're in any position to ask questions, Youko Kurama?" The demoness snaps.

"…" He notices himself strapped to the wall by thorn-filled vines. _–She thinks she can take us just because she can control plants. What a naïve pup.-_ The vines around him release him and strike at the demoness. She laughs as she dodges them.

"Trying to get me? I haven't stolen your feelings have I?"

_-She's so naïve. Like I'd choose to go after her. No Lord could pay me enough to do such a thing. Look at her. Looks are wasted on her.- _"You're not my type, sorry."

"Aw." She pouts. "But I'm just like you!"

_-You're a sad excuse for a plant master.-_ "I disagree."

"Why don't you like me!?" She whines, the vines shooting over at Kurama.

A smirk appears across his face and his eyes switch to gold. He disappears from her view and reappears behind her, a clawed hand on the back of her neck. He leans down and whispers in her ear. "You're just not my type."

"This is unbelievable" Kagome finishes putting on the dress. "It's so pretty…" she carefully clips on the shoes and walks over to the dresser to inspect the jewelry and make up. "This was definitely not last minute. There's no way they could pull off something like this so fast." She slowly continues to get ready.

"Kagome?" Hojo's voice sounds on the other side of the door. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." She slowly opens the door.

"Kagome!" Hojo beams. "You look beautiful!" He reaches a hand out to her. "Would you please allow me to escort you to the party? It would be my honor."

"…um… sure, I guess." Kagome lets him lead her downstairs and to the car. After about hour ride outside of town they reach a long, lamp-lighted driveway going up a hill. They travel up the hill and stop at a pair of gates. A man in a suit approaches the vehicle and Hojo puts down the window.

"Name sir?"

"Hojo."

"Your parents are here. There are no vehicles allowed beyond the gates. I am here to take care of your car."

"Thank you." Hojo steps out of the car and walks over to the passenger side of the car. He helps Kagome out and they step away from the car before Hojo tosses the keys to the man. They proceed through the gates to find a huge staircase looming before them. "Well, are you ready Kagome?

"No."

"You look beautiful Kagome, don't be scared. Don't forget that I'm here with you."

"…um… yeah… sure… whatever."

"Don't worry about anything." Hojo smiles. "I'll take good care of you. I promise."

"Aw! But Youko!" Kusaki whines. Kurama is suddenly grabbed from behind and yanked back into a wall by several think, thorn-filled vines. "How am I not your type? I'm a powerful female plant-master! We're two of the same!"

"You're no fox." The vines release him.

"Neither is the miko you are pursuing."

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm your type. She isn't. A miko wouldn't belong to someone like a thief. She would do better to belong to a Lord. They are better suited for each other." He gets pinned again.

"Like your master?" He pins her against the wall with vines.

"Yes." She slashes at him with a whip.

"And why would I give up my chase for him?" He block with his whip.

"He desires to hold the power she has. She is his future mate. You have no part in her life. Let her go." She attacks him again.

"And why would I give up on her so easily?" He blocks her.

"Because…" she pins him against the wall, leaning on him, her face only inches away from his "You could have me."

Kagome and Hojo finally reach the top of the stairs to find a huge, elegant, brightly lit house. Kagome just stands there, shocked at seeing something so beautiful and expensive.

The doors were opened for them and they were shown to an elegant ballroom filled with people and music. The ballroom was lit with bright lights as music filled the air. Only the outside edges of the room were given up to tables and chairs. Kagome looked around, searching for the source of the music, trying to think of a dj that would play classical to find a small orchestra. And then a couple passed through her field of vision, drawing her attention to the dance floor.

Kagome watched the people dancing, mesmerized by their graceful movements. She was so caught up in watching that she didn't hear Hojo talking to her. "Um.. What?"

"I asked if you would like to dance?"

"Really?! Can we?!"

"Of course!" Hojo smiles, offering her his hand and leading her to the center of the dance floor.

He watched from his chair at the head of the table as his cousin entered the room with a girl on his arm. He studied the girl carefully, she was beautiful. Her dark blue dress matched the blue tinge in her long dark hair. The dress was simple, glitter only in the shall draped around her, attached to the back of her dress as well as her wrists, the fabric slightly see through. She wore a simply silver bracelet, necklace and earrings. She had a tiny bit of eye liner and some blush on and her hair was pinned up and curled. Her lips were completely untouched, but what caught him the most was her eyes. He watched as they lit up with wonder and excitement as she took in the scene before her. His ear twitched as he listened to his cousin trying to talk to her and the girl lost in her own thoughts, mesmerized by everyone on the dance floor. He smirked, he would enjoy stealing her. He continued to watch silently from the side lines as his cousin led her to the middle of the dance floor and they began to dance. She was a magnificent creature on the dance floor, beauty and grace all in one. He was convinced. He had to have her. There was no way he'd let this go easily, never mind all of the benefits he'd get from having her at his side. Yes, she would be his. He would win her for sure. She was under his spell the moment she stepped into the room. Now all he had to do was get her to hold onto him so he could start persuading her to join him. And he knew just how to get a hold of her. A small smile graced his lips as he watched her in the middle of the dance floor. She would dance with him tonight.


	15. Change in Plans

_**Ch.15**__ – Plans Change_

"I don't want you." Youko states blandly.

"WHAT!?! What's wrong!? Am I not hot enough for you!?" Kusaki spazzes out.

_-…Did she seriously just ask me that?-_ "You're saying we're the same and then you want to be lovers? I'm not into incest. Sorry."

"…What?"

"If we're the same then we're related. Duh."

"Related…" She repeats the word slowly. "…Would you train me?"

"… I suppose I could…"

"Ok!" she releases me. "But just to be sure… you must do a blood bond with me."

"Maybe if you behave my mate will adopt you. Then we could do a blood bond."

"… I'd have a mother?"

"Yes. And she'd be able to teach you about herb plants."

"But that's what my Lord said about his mate!"

"But doesn't it make sense for plant masters to have mates that know a bit about plants? Would your leader actually love her? Wouldn't you like parents that actually lover each other?"

"But he said that she would love him."

"It's very different between having someone love you and forcing them to love you."

"But –"

"I have to have my mate if you want to do a blood bond and want me to adopt you.:

"…" Kusaki remains silent for a few minutes.

"Kusaki… where is my mate?"

"… she's at the party." She looks over at his confused expression and sighs, shaking her head. "You promise you'll keep your word?"

"Here." Youko pulls a white rose out of his hair and hands it to her. She weaves it into her hair and smiled, looking up at him.

"You're going to need to change. Follow me." She starts walking out of the building. Youko just shrugs before following her out of the area.

"May I cut in dear cousin?" A slightly deep male voice sounds behind Kagome, causing her and Hojo to stop dancing. Kagome looks over to see a guy slightly taller then Hojo with beautiful blue eyes, soft black hair and a cute smile standing behind her. He watches her expressions and follows her eyes as she takes in the sight of him. He gives her a disarming smile when they make eye contact. "I hope you don't mind."

"….um… no…" Kagome tries to break eye contact with him but she can't seem to turn away. "…I …don't… mind."

"May I cousin?"

"Sure." Hojo puts Kagome's hand in the stranger's. "Be nice to her alright? Take good care of her."

"Hojo –" Kagome tries to protest but the boy disappears.

"Don't worry. I'm a lot better than my cousin." Kagome is suddenly pulled closer to the stranger as another song begins to play. She is caught off guard when he spins and dips her gently, bringing her back up slowly.

"…wow…" she tries to catch her breath as she slowly releases her startled grip on his arms.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" He smiles.

"…You're… really good…"

"why thank you. You're not too bad yourself. Graceful and enchanting. May I ask the name of my celestial dancer?"

"…um…" A slight blush dashes across her face. "…Kagome…"

"A beautiful name for such a charming lady."

"…um… no, no… this isn't really my setting."

"Really? I thought this setting fit you perfectly. You are simply amazing and you look stunning in that dress."

"…um… thank you?" Her blush deepens slightly. "…um… I have yet to get your name…:

"Akira…" He dips her again, this time their faces ever-so-slightly closer. "…my Lady."

"…Akira…" kagome repeats slowly, almost in a haze.

"Yes my Lady?" He holds her slightly closer.

"-" She starts to say something but is cut off when someone bumps into them.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me to knock into you." Akira turns to find a guy with shoulder-length red hair and golden eyes. "Please allow me to make it up to you." Before Akira can blink Kagome is gone from his arms and whisked further away, to a different part of the dance floor. "Kagome… are you alright?" he looks down at the girl now in his arms in concern. When she doesn't answer he looks into her eyes to see them half lidded and starting to cloud over, turning blue. _–That bastard.-_ _-Indeed.-_ "Kagome?"

"…A-"

"No. Look at me." He watches her eyes search for the man she was trying to name. "Look at me." He repeats. When she still doesn't he pulls a rose out of his hair and holds it out in front of her face.

"…" She slowly looks up at him. "…Youko…"

"Good girl." He spins her carefully and tilts her backwards before pulling her closer, gently kissing her on the lips. "I knew you would remember me."

A light red line crosses her face and her eyes immediately return to normal. "Youko!?"

"Yes?"

"what the hell are you doing here!?"

"I couldn't bear the thought of not being able to dance with you. You look lovely tonight."

"…thanks. You look nice too."

"What… just happened?" Akira watches them dance, bewildered.

He's suddenly pulled into a dance and looks over to find Kusaki in a floor-length green dress, her hair pinned up by vines. "Sorry, there's been a change in plans.

"Pathetic." Hiei appears behind her and whacks her in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. "Baka onna." He starts to walk away.

"Why… aren't you finishing… me off…"

"Hn. You're not worth the kill." He continues walking.

"Just because… I'm a girl yeah?... Finish me."

"Had enough yet? REAdy to quit?"

"Dear hanyou…" A water whip forms around Yusuke's feet, he is yanked upwards and thrown into the ceiling. "I'm still having fun."

"Too bad I have to kill you. I'd enjoy sparring." He gets up off the ground and sets himself in a fighting stance.

"You'd spar with me?" She looks at him questioningly. "No one would spar with me back home. They thought since I was a female, I'd break."

"It's not like I would be trying to kill you. It's just for training purposes. You don't seem too bad." He attacks her with his shot fun a few times.

She dodges. "You're not so bad yourself." Her form breaks into a puddle of water. Yusuke stays in his stance, concentrating on sensing her. She reforms behind him, startling him by whispering in his ear. "I think I'm starting to like you, hanyou."

"Waaaaah!" Kuwabara yells out as more pressure from a gust of wind threatens to crush him.

"You're pathetic. I can't believe I got stuck having to deal with you. You're just a stupid human."

"I'll have you know that I am the great Kazuma Kuwabara!"

"GREat? You're nothing but a flesh doll, a puppet with missing strings; a squishable little toy."

"Why don't you… just come out… and face me… you coward!" Kuwabara continues to try to talk while slowly being crushed.

"I don't need you to start liking me. Human is not my type."

"Kagome!" Hojo appears next to them. "My cousin – Who are you?" He eyes Kurama strangely. "You seem familiar…"

_-Well duh. We talked to you at school and told you to stay away from Kagome.-__ - I guess he needs another lesson.- __-Agreed-_ "Suichi."

"Oh. How did you get in? You haven't been here long enough, and I know you don't have the connections to get on the guest list." Hojo glares at him.

"I came with a friend. She's dancing with… your cousin?"

"Well Kagome is my date. I never gave you permission to dance."

"…well then… may I dance with Kagome?"

"No. Absolutely not." Hojo grabs her by the hand and drags her off, away from Kurama.

_-Big mistake.-__ -I suggest a hit list.- __-Him and his cousin.-__ -I'm sure no one will notice if they go missing, and for those who do, they probably won't care.- _


	16. Can I kill him?

**_Hey Folks, Rosie Hater here. I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I updated. But please don't flame me for it. My roommate took my journal with everything in it and got rid of it. I lost everything. I had been working on chapter 20 so that I could surprise you with a few chapters at a time. But since she took my journal I've had to redo everything from scratch. So please bear with me. I will give you chapter 16 and I just recently finished 17 so I'll give that to you as well. Please forgive me for the long wait. _**

**_ ~Rosie hater  
_**

_**Ch.16**__** – **__Can I kill him?_

"Hojo… what's wrong with you?" Kagome tries to pry herself free of his grip on her wrist, but every time his grip just gets tighter.

"Kagome you ditched my cousin! You're going to get me in so much trouble!" He finally speaks when they reach the balcony.

"I didn't ditch him. Suichi pulled me over and your cousin is dancing with someone else." She points to Kusaki.

"He really wanted to talk to you…"

"I'm sorry. Go get him and bring him back here then."

"Alright." He quickly pulls Kagome into a hug. "I'm sorry I got angry." Hojo walks off towards his cousin.

Kagome looks around the balcony to find vine designs on the outer railing and that the balcony over-looks the ocean and its shore. "The sand looks so soft…"

"And if you come back I might even let you go in the water." A voice whispers in her ear.

Kagome nearly jumps out of her skin and whirls around quickly to face a smiling Akira. "…You…" she glares at him.

"Aw… did I scare you?" He winks.

"…No…"

"Are you sure?" He slips an arm around her waist and pulls her closer, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"…" A light red line crosses Kagome's face.

"Will you come back again Kagome? I would love to see you again." He purrs.

"…um…" Kagome seems really unsure

"Please…" He purrs, catching her eyes and holding them with his own. "Say you'll come back to see me?"

I don't… know…" Kagome starts to lose herself.

"Please?" He pulls her slightly closer. "I'd really love to see you again, Kagome. Will you come visit me sometime?" He gives her a disarming smile.

"…" A light red line crosses Kagome's face.

"Here…" Akira pulls out a dark blue rose. He gently pushes Kagome's hair back and slides the thornless stem behind her ear. "There's no need for you to decide right now. Would you care to dance again?"

"…I… I'd love to…" Her eyes start to cloud over.

"Wonderful." Kagome is whisked to the dance floor and Akira makes sure to hold onto her slightly tighter, in case someone decides to try to take her form him again.

- - - - - - -

Kurama watches them from a corner. _–How dare he try to steal her form us again!-__ -Indeed. He must not have learned the first time. Such a shame.- __-I'll KILL him.-_

"So… Suichi is it?" Hojo appears beside him.

_-Can I kill him?-__ -Not yet Youko.- __Damn it.-_ "Yes. What can I do for you Hojo?" _–Besides rip your limbs off and feed you to me death tree.-_

"What will it take to get you to leave Kagome alone?"

_-Are you serious!?!-__ -Apparently he is, Youko.- __-We should run him over with Nora's bike.-_ "Why would I leave her alone? I like her."

"Look at the dance floor. She's happy. Her and my cousin look perfect together. If you truly cared for her, you'd let her go."

_-Can I kill him NOW?-_ _-There's a lot of people here right now Youko.- __-So? What do I care?- __ -There's too many witnesses.- __-If they have a problem I'll kill them too. Then there'll be no witnesses left.-__ -And what will Kagome think if she sees us killing everyone?-_ "If I really loved her, like I do, I'd protect her from any threats, _human_ or _demon_."

"…" Hojo's eyes widen slightly and he can't seem to be able to come up with any words.

"It was nice talking to you. Please excuse me." Kurama walks off before Hojo has a chance to finish registering his silent threat. _–Where did Kusaki go?- __-that naive child wasn't worth my attention.-_

- - - - - - -

"I'm very unhappy with you Kusaki… you disappoint me…"

"P…please my Lord…" Kusaki bows before him in chains. "…have mercy… I'm just a kid…"

"I thought I taught you about loyalty already…" He grabs her by the hair roughly, pushing her face into the floor. "But I see that clearly you have forgotten about who owns you…"

"I'm sorry! Please! I'm just a child! He promised me a home and a family!" She cries.

"You're such a naïve child! I taught you better! I've given you and your sisters a home! I took you all in! I taught you how to use your powers! I trained you! And how do you repay me?!" He rips her head back just enough not to snap it.

Kusaki lets out a scream as heavy tears stream down her face. "Please no! Please Lord Akira!" She pleads to the demon standing in front of her.

"You are lucky I am preoccupied by my future mate or I'd come down here myself and then you'd be in trouble." His cold, venom-laced voice sends shivers of fear through her body. "You will stay here and review your actions until I come down here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good." He vanishes into thin air. Kusaki drops to the floor, devastated and full of fear.

- - - - - - -

"My daughters are coming to visit tomorrow. Would you like to meet them?" Akira spins Kagome and catches her gently.

"You're married?"

"No… I have yet to find a woman I'd like to share the rest of my life with… until now." He winks at her.

"…Sorry… I have a date with Suichi planned."

"Aw…Please?" He gently leans her back and pulls her close once again. "I know they'll love you." He whispers in her ear.

"…um… but…" Kagome feels her mind getting a bit fuzzy.

"Please come to dinner with me tomorrow?"

"…But I… have plans…."

"Plans… with me?" He gently pleads, never letting her look away from him for too long. He spins her again and pulls her even closer, their noses a mere inch apart. Suddenly everything freezes around them. As he tries to slowly close the gap between him and Kagome, something hits him really hard and his vision dies.

"Akira!" Kagome gasps as she notices him go unconscious, not knowing what to do. She looks around but sees everyone frozen. She looks back over at Akira to find Youko standing there, a red glow clearly evident in his eyes.

"We're leaving."


	17. Sensations

_**Ch.17**__ – Sensations_

"…" Kagome glares at him.

"…what? C'mon let's go." Youko walks over to her. He notices her eyes, once again changing blue. _–He'll be lucky to get a quick death.-_ "…Have you forgotten me already?" He watches her non-caring expression. _–Apparently so.-_ He notices the flower in her hair. Youko growls on the inside. On the outside he slowly steps closer to Kagome and reaches out to her.

She steps back. "…You… hurt Akira…"

Youko steps towards her again, reaching out for her. "I will not let you forget me." He carefully grabs her hand, spins and dips her gently, kissing her on the lips. Kagome's mind goes blank and her eyes slowly clear up, returning to their normal brown. Her expression changes from unemotional to shock and a light red line makes its way across her face when she notices the position they're in. She quickly pulls herself away from him and hides her face. "Aw." Youko smirks. He wraps a hand around her waist and pulls her closer, leaning over slightly to purr in her ear. "You're cute when you're blushing." This just causes Kagome to blush even more.

"why did you… do that Youko?"

"You thought I'd let you forget me? Or let someone steal you from me?"

"Youko…"

"… I was protecting you."

"then why did you kiss me?"

"… I couldn't help it. You look so lovely in that dress, I just couldn't stay away from you. And I will not lose you to another demon." He reaches over and pulls the rose out of her hair, tossing it aside. "Come." He offers her his arm. "Let me escort you out of here."

"Where to?" Kagome slowly rests her hand on his arm.

"Well now that I know someone likes dancing… how about we go to a club?"

"Only if I can change clothes."

"Of course." They walk out of the room. As soon as they pass through the door the room unfreezes and they leave. They return to the Higurashi residence and Kagome quickly changes out of her dress, changing into a black tank top and black slacks. She grabs a dark blue sweatshirt before going back downstairs to find Youko's changed as well. He still remains in demon form but he's changed from a tux to a nice pair of dark blue pants and black shirt. "You ready to go?" He smiles as he takes in her outfit.

"Yeah. Do you know any clubs around here?"

"…Not really. I was hoping you would."

"Yeah I do. Guess I'll drive."

"Not if I have the keys." Youko pulls a key ring out of his pocket, a victorious smirk on his face.

"Who says we're taking the car?" Kagome smirks back.

"…What?" Youko becomes confused. "Do you want me to carry you there? I know I can run pretty fast, if you're not scared of demon-speed traveling."

"No. I'm driving."

"But you said that we're not taking the car."

"We're not."

"…I'm confused."

"Do you really think Nora is the only one with a bike?"

"…" Youko's eyes widen slightly in surprise.

Kagome just smiles at him and takes a small pair of keys out of her pocket. "Let's go have some fun."

**- - - - -**

Several hours later, under the light of a new day they return to the Higurashi residence. Just before Kagome is able to start walking up the shrine steps Youko sweeps her off her feet and starts carrying her bridal style up the steps. "Youko!" She protests. "I can walk!"

"I'm sure you can… but what if I don't want you to?"

"I _like_ walking on my own."

"That's too bad cause at the moment I don't _like_ the idea of putting you down."

"… -!" Kagome starts to say something but cuts off as Youko jumps from the top of the steps onto the roof.

"If I knew you would hold me closer if I jumped, I would've jumped sooner." Youko whispers in her ear as he lands gracefully on the roof next to her window, quickly slipping through the window while still holding onto a speechless Kagome. "Still have no words for me? Do you still have your mind or is it still free for me to steal?" He whispers as he gently sets her on her feet.

"…why did you do that?" Kagome slowly starts to loosen her death grip on his arm.

"Did you want to alert your siblings to our presence?"

"…no" Kagome looks down at the floor, her voice lowering to a low murmur. "The way Nora's mind works… she's never leave me alone until her perverted comments are stuck in my head forever."

"Aw." Youko purrs slightly as he notices a light blush making it's way across her face as she mumbles to herself, earning him a side glance. "What?

"Were you even listening to me!? You know just because you have demon hearing doesn't mean you can just tune me out whenever you want to! You can't just –!" She is silenced when Youko gently pins her against the wall, leaning over slightly to capture her lips. Time seems to freeze as neither of them move for several seconds.

A soft purr slips out of Youko when she slowly starts to respond to him. He slowly lets go of one of her hands in favor of slipping it around her waist to pull her closer as her free hand finds its way up to the back of his neck. _–I have completely won this game.-_ Youko smirks in his mind. _–She will never go back to Akira.- _His smirk gets wider as an idea flashes in his mind. He slowly pulls away from her lips, nuzzling her affectionately before starting to trail a line of kisses slowly down the side of her neck. Kagome's breath catches sharply as a new sensation floods her senses, sending shivers through her nerves. _–Slow down Youko.-_Suichi's voice sounds in Youko's mind. _–Aw! But Red!-_ Youko whines. _–Slow down Youko.-_Suichi repeats. _–But Red!- _ Youko pouts. _–No. She's not ready yet. We don't want to scare her off.-_

Youko sighs in his mind. He quickly scoops Kagome up in his arms and brings her over to the bed while her mind is still hazy. He gently lays her form down on the bed, capturing her lips once more as he slowly covers her with blankets. "Don't think too much before you drift off." He whispers in her ear before moving over to the window. "Sweet dreams… my love." And with that he slips out the window.


	18. Into the Shadows

_**Ch.18**__ – Into the Shadows_

Kagome rolls over slightly, something brushes the tip of her nose, causing her to open her eyes. She looks over to find a sleeping Corin _very_ close to her face. She bites back a sound of surprise and shock, rolling over only the meet the face of a sleeping Shorin. She flinches, slightly stunned. "Nora…" She breathes softly.

"What? Go back to sleep." Kagome looks down to find that Nora's completely taken over the bottom of the bed.

"Why are you all in my bed?"

"We wanted to make sure you weren't going to sneak off today like you did last night."

"You trapped me in _bed_!"

"Keep squeaking like that and I'll wake them up. Would you like that?"

"…No."

"Alright then. Go back to sleep."

- - - - - - -

_-Last night was amazing! We should dance with her more often!-_ Youko exclaims with glee. _–Too bad we didn't stay with her last night… just think of all the fun stuff we could've done!-_

Kurama groans mentally. _–Not now Youko. It's too early in the morning. Go back to sleep.-_

_-But just think about it Red! With what happened last night… just think about what we could do today!-_

Kurama growls slightly and rolls over, attempting to fall asleep once more. _ –Go to sleep Youko.-_

_-But Red! C'mon! She wouldn't mind if we slipped into her bed…-_

_-Let her sleep Youko. She's not going to leave us.-_

Youko sighs in exasperation. _–You're no fun.-_

_-At least wait until tonight. We don't want to smother her.-_

Youko sighs. _–Alright.-_

_-Good. Now go back to sleep so I can get some rest. We'll get up later.-_

- - - - - - -

Later the afternoon Kagome follows a path behind the house into the woods. "Finally." She sighs to herself. "A nice peaceful walk." After about half an hour she unconsciously passed through a barrier and comes across a small clearing with a single tree in the middle. Out of curiousity she walks closer to find a neatly laid out picnic for two. "… That looks lovely… but where is the couple?"

"Right here." Someone whispers in her ear from behind her. Her eyes widen and she whirls around to meet blue eyes. As the male takes her hand in his own and brings it up to his lips. "Join me for lunch?"

"… W-what?! H-how did you get here?!" Kagome takes a step back only to find herself backed up against the tree.

"You said you were too busy to come see me to go out to lunch. So I brought lunch to you." He takes hold of her hand again and brings it to his lips. "Will you do me the honor of joining me for lunch, my Lady?"

"…Um… I… um…. I don't know…" Kagome hesitates.

"…Please?" Akira steps closer to her with pleading eyes. "I worked so hard to make this place beautiful enough for you. I had prepared a nice room at home in hopes that you would come visit me. But since you expressed that you could not I took the time out of my day to bring lunch to you. Will you not join me?" He pleads.

"…I… I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt… I should get back soon though or they'll worry about me."

"Do not worry, my dear Kagome, I will make sure that nothing happens to you." He gently wraps an arm around Kagome's waist and pulls her down onto the picnic blanket. "Here… try this." Before Kagome can speak Akira has his chopsticks pressed against her lips. Kagome freezes up out of shock. She starts to fall back but he catches her, fully intent on not giving up. "It's alright. Don't be afraid of me, my dear Kagome. I just want you to enjoy yourself." He prods her to eat off his chopsticks, pressing them gently to her lips. "Will you not try this food for me? I made it special for you…"

"…" Kagome's eyes get slightly fuzzy and a light blush crawls across her face as she lets him feed her the noodles.

"Thank you." He gently kisses her on the cheek, causing her blush to deepen. "Will you dance with me tonight?"

"… I was going to watch a movie with some friends later…"

"We can watch a movie as well if you wish. Please? We never got to finish dancing. If you don't want to dance with me alone I can have my cousin call up some friends and we'll have another party?" He tries to persuade her.

"I… I don't know…" Kagome hesitates.

"Please?" He gives her a disarming smile. "I promise that you'll have fun. Come spend the night with me?"

- - - - - -

_-Red! Red wake up! WAKE UP!-_ Youko shouts.

_-What is it?! Calm down!-_

_-Kagome is missing and I can't sense her anywhere near us!-_

_-She probably went out with her siblings Youko.-_

_-They've all been here searching for her! She went for a walk in the woods and never came back!-_ Youko panics. _–Now get up and let's go find her before something bad happens!-_

After 20 minutes of searching the forest Youko really starts to panic and Suichi becomes concerned. _–How could we let something like this happen! She could be hurt or kidnapped by some demon or both!-_

_-It's alright Youko… stay calm, we'll find her.-_ After several more minutes Kurama stops and looks around. _–That's strange.-_

_-WHAT!? Did you find her!?-_

_-Youko I still can't sense her. And now I can't sense her siblings… maybe they went out, all of them.-_

_-No! I know something happened to her! The plants are uneasy. That means there's a powerful demon nearby.-_

_-I can't sense- !-_ **WHAM!** He walks into an invisible wall. _–A barrier?-_

_-THAT is bad! He must be really good! And he's got out Kagome!-_

_-Then we'll just have to take down this barrier!-_ Kurama's eyes turn red as his ki spikes in anger. The plants around him become wild, sharp-toothed creatures as they use his gathering energy to come alive.

- - - - - - -

"Please… come spend the night with me?" Akira stares into Kagome's eyes as he holds her close, practically in his lap as their faces are a mere inch apart. He moves to close the small gap between them when he feels a powerful wave cause a ripple in his barrier. _–I'm busy.-_ His shadow slips away through the grass, headed towards the disturbance. Akira once again turns his attention to Kagome, lightly brushing his lips against hers. "Please…?" He purrs. "Come home with me tonight?" He smirks as he notices her eyes changing to blue. "I will give you a night you will never regret." He slowly gets up, picking her up bridal style as he stands. Kagome is unable to protest as her mind is surrounded by a haze, pretty much reducing her to a rag doll.

- - - - - -

Youko breaks through the barrier on his third attack, slamming through it and running into the trees blocking his path. _–What a cheap barrier.-_

_-Youko! Be happy it didn't take us longer.-_ Something swipes at his face. He reaches a hand up to his cheek when he feels a trickle of blood trailing down the side of his face, finding claw marks.

_-Whatever that was, it's dead.-_

_-We didn't even kill it yet.-_

_-It has signed it's death warrant. How can I romance our mate with marks on our face?!-_ He is shoved to the ground and some sort of black creature blurs around him. Ager what seems like forever the creature pauses above him and slips into a black puddle on the ground, taking off into the distance.

_-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?-_ Kurama slowly stands up, covered in bleeding claw marks.

_-Follow it. Quickly.-_ Kurama takes off after the fleeing creature.

_-Why is it running away?-_

_-I don't think it's running. I think it's returning. It's been called back.-_

_-What do you mean?-_

_-If I'm not mistaken, that's a shadow demon. But that's not the original.-_

_-How can it not be the original?-_

_-They can use their shadow as a… separate being, to an extent.-_

_-So if we're following his shadow… his real body is somewhere else.-_

_-Correct.-_ They run into a clearing to see the shadow return to a normal shadow, connected to a man that looks all too familiar holding Kagome in his arms. "Akira." Youko growls.

"Youko Kurama, meet the love of my life." Akira leans his head down slightly and lightly kisses Kagome on the neck. He lets his lips linger there a few seconds longer as her watches the red coloring in the fox's eyes deepen.

"You will release her. Now." Youko growls, ready to rip the man to pieces.

"Oh but she likes me. Do you see her protesting?" Akira pushes Kagome's head back and kisses her lower on the neck. Laughing as Youko tries to attack him and they disappear into the shadows caused by the tree. Youko's attack hits the tree, taking it out but revealing nothing.

"Damn it!" He growls.

"Too slow, Youko Kurama." Akira's voice echoes around him followed by the sound of laughter, slowly dissipating to show the demon's departure.

_-I will track you and I will rip you from her.-_ Was the last echoing thought through Kurama's mind as Youko completely takes over, immediately switching to his demon form, a deep blood-red color completely consuming his now darkly glowing eyes.


	19. Leave It To The Plants

_**Ch.19**__ – Leave it to the plants_

Dark shadows overtake the empty ballroom, darkening until the room turns completely black. Akira forms out of the shadows, Kagome still a frozen ragdoll, held in his arms. A few seconds after stepping out of the shadows, the darkness fades, taking all of the shadows along with it. "It's time to wake up now, my beautiful miko." He whispers in her ear, nipping her gently.

Kagome seems to come back to life, her breath catching as she takes in the sight around her. "Where -?"

"My place." He purrs in her ear.

She quickly turns her head and glare at him. "You…"

"Akira, my Lady." He gently sets her on her feet, takes hold of her hand and kisses it slowly. "I thought you might like to dance?"

"… Dance?"

"Oh yes my Lady." He sweeps her into a dance. Seconds later, the sound of music fills the air.

- - - - -

_-Do you remember where that house was before?-_ Youko questions Suichi.

_-Yes…-_

_-Where is it? That's where he's going to go.-_

_-How do you know?-_

_-Where else would you take your mate?-_

_-Out?-_

_-__We court differently than humans. To take your mate home shows that you're serious and it's the best place to make them your mate. Now let's move Red! If he gets her to mate with him she'll be lost forever!-_They take off through the woods, using their demon speed to travel as fast as possible.

- - - - -

"You like my dancing, my Lady?" Akira purrs before spinning her, letting her fall back slowly and then pulling her back up and holding her close.

"…You're … a really good dancer…"

"Enough to win me a kiss?" He purrs in her ear, nipping her slightly.

"…w-what?" A light red line crosses her face.

"Please, Kagome?" He pulls her even closer. "Don't you want to know what it's like? Aren't you … _curious_ as to how I would be?"

"w-w-" He cuts her off.

"Don't pretend not to know your own desires, my Lady. Deep on the inside you have a curiosity for everything. Why not let me satisfy that thirst?"

"…Y-you-" He silences her with a finger.

"Shh. Why not just let things take place? Let yourself go. You have no need to worry; it is just the two of us. I will give you what you require." He leans over slightly, their faces a mere inch apart…

- - - - -

"You!" A water whip cracks across Youko's arm, causing him to stop momentarily. "You sent her to her death!" The whip cracks again, coming from somewhere in the trees.

"You killed our sister!" Another voice rings out.

"We will kill you for taking her away!" A third voice calls out.

"Step out where I can see you and I'll think about fighting you." Youko rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Otherwise get out of my way."

Three demons step out of the trees. One water, one fire and one wind. "You made him kill Kuzaki!" They yell in unison.

"I actually tried to help you sister from the control freak you call lord. You follow him like such good little puppets.

"We are not puppets!"

"Really? Where do you draw the line then? If all four of you had worked together you could've over thrown him. But instead you listened to his demands and watched your sister die in front of you. You should be blaming yourselves. Think about it." Youko once again takes off for Akira's mini-castle.

- - - - -

Youko finally reaches the mansion and jumps onto the balcony in time to see Akira close inn on Kagome. _–No…-_ He eyes narrow and flash dangerously.

Akira doesn't seem to notice Youko as he takes his time to slowly pull away from Kagome. "Do you love me better now? Or… do you need more?" Before Kagome can speak she is pushed against a wall with Akira pressing in on her. "That fox is nothing to you. He can't give you what I can." He pushes her head back, licking his fangs before slowly leaning over, focused on her neck.

A loud '**CRACK!'** echoes through the air and a red line appears across Akira's cheek, blood trickling down the side of his face. "Release her." A loud, deep growling voice snaps.

"Why if it isn't Youko Kurama." Akira turns his head with a sadistic smirk on his face. "You're too late."

"Am I? I don't see a bite mark."

"You will in a moment." Akira turns back to Kagome. Youko's whip cracks across his face again, adding another mark.

"You will not defile her." He growls. "You can't force someone to mate with you."

"Really? Care to watch yourself lose? Where has she been all day? With me."

"You kidnapped her!"

"She could've purified me at any time. She chose to be at my side."

"She chooses not to kill you because she is human."

"Ah, but she isn't a human. She's a special miko."

"With a human hear. Now unhand her."

"Make me you-" '**CRACK!**' A third bloody line makes its presence known on Akira's face.

A giant man-eating flower sprouts up out of the middle of the room, taking up half of it with its size, leaves and roots, its razor sharp teeth glinting like knives. "You _DARE _to test my patience?"


	20. Child's Play

_**Ch.20**__ –Child's Play_

Akira looks over at the plant, at Youko, at the plant again and back over at Youko once more. "…"

Youko smirks with his fangs showing to add to his look of victory. "I suggest that you let her go." Youko glares at him. "After all… it would be rude to make my plant wait for its next meal."

- - - - -

Kagome jolts back into reality, sitting up in bed, hand on her head. "Ow." She whines. "What a headache." She looks around, her eyes landing on a pair of silver ears sticking out from under her blankets. She slowly lifts up the blankets to find a sleeping Youko. She tries to back away from him out of shock but finds herself being held securely around the waist. _–How did I get here?-_ Kagome attempts to pry herself free of the sleeping fox's grip but only manages to get pulled closer. _–Even in his sleep he doesn't want to let go.-_ She sighs. _-… He is kinda cute when he's sleeping though… Damn it Kagome, stop it… don't get attached.-_ She looks over at the sleeping fox again, her eyes resting on his slightly twitching ears. _-…He's got the most adorable ears though… and his hair is absolutely beautiful… When was the last time I saw his eyes?-_ She gently runs a hand through his hair. _–For some reason… I don't mind finding him here…-_ Kagome lies back down and falls asleep.

Youko slowly opens his eyes and looks over at Kagome. _–She let us stay.-_

_-She doesn't remember that pathetic demon at all-_

_-That's good Red. It's a lot better this way.-_ Youko smiles as he covers Kagome up with some warm blankets again before closing his eyes and falling asleep once more.

- - - - -

"Kagome…" a voice purrs in her ear. "Kagome.. time to wake up." She feels a light nudge to her shoulder. She whines and rolls over. Youko stifles a laugh as she unconsciously cuddles up to him. _–We don't really have to wake her up now do we?-_

_-Do you want her siblings to find us?-_

_-They're going to find us eventually. We might as well just enjoy ourselves.-_

_-As least change back so they don't completely kill us.-_

_-Alright.-_ Youko sighs, switching back to human form. He gives control back to Suichi as he moves to the back of their mind in need of more sleep.

As if on cue the door is kicked open by none other than Nora. "Rise and shine! It's breakfast time! Kagome! Kag-!" She notices Kagome still sleeping, with a familiar red-head. "You! Again!" Nora glares at Kurama who is now awake but refuses to move. "How _dare_ you try to steal my lover!"

"… Aren't you sisters?"

"Oh so the brothers can love each other but I can't love my sister!?"

"…What if I want to be her lover?"

"Then you have to get by me first!"

"I'm already sleeping in her bed. Considering this is the second time you know of, you haven't done a very good job of keeping me out of here."

"…Are you picking a fight with me?" Nora snaps.

"Not really. If you'd like it to be a fight then I've already won. Kagome seems to like me being here."

"…" Nora just stands there. "…" Without warning she runs out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "I'll be back for you later pretty boy! Just you wait!"

Kagome starts to stir and fidget from the loud noise of the door. She unconsciously grabs hold of Kurama's shirt and buries her face in his shoulder. Kurama freezes slightly, startled by her unconscious actions and watches as she seems to drift back to sleep. He slowly wraps his arms around her and holds her close. He gently kisses her on the cheek before settling down and going back to sleep, now confident that Nora won't return until later afternoon.

- - - - -

"Today we have a special treat! Today we will battle a demon!"Corin yells dramatically as a group of little kids gather around the open dojo. "We must prepare for battle!" He runs off.

Youko glares at Nora while tied to a chair. "Why am I doing this again?"

"Because this is payback for being a smart ass earlier."

"I don't see why you couldn't have waited for a more convenient time."

"This is a convenient time… for me. We needed a demon for our play and I'm always dressing up and being defeated by the twins. Besides, it was either this or I kidnap Kagome to be the damsel in distress. Then I'd save her and in the end we'd hold each other closer and closer until –"

"Enough." Youko growls.

"… Did you think we were actually going to kiss each other? Wow, you have a dirty mind. Two girls making out in front of a group of little kids… what a pervert." Nora quickly unwraps the rope around Youko, grabs onto his collar and shoves him towards the stage. "Now get out there and be a good, playful demon. Kill Corin. Then die by Shorin and I's revenge."

"There he is!"Corin runs out in samurai armor. "I've finally found you demon! Now you will no longer terrorize out village!" He draws a sword and slowly charges Youko.

"…" Youko is unsure what to do.

"Youko!" Nora whispers from the side lines. "This is a child's play!" She points at the little kids. "Give them a good show of I'll never let you spend time in Kagome's bed ever again!" She tosses him a sword. "Now get moving!"

"…" _–I guess we have no choice.-_"You cannot kill me that easily human!" Youko clashes swords with Corin. They parry with their swords for a few minutes, building up the tension. Unknown to them Kagome comes up behind the dojo, unable to see the kids or Nara and Shorin. All of a sudden Youko seems to speed up and he stabs through Corin, blood flying everywhere.

"… No… I can't believe… I lost…" Corin slowly fall to the ground and dies.

Kagome stops walking, she screams tears spilling out of her eyes. Youko turns to see her, being the only one to hear her over the kids with his demon hearing. She quickly turns and runs off into the woods. Before Youko can follow her, Nora and Shorin run out in their armor, swords drawn. Youko tries to alert Nora and Shorin but they are too busy putting on a show for the kids to notice anything serious. They charge him together and he falls, blood spilling everywhere as he is defeated by the samurai.

"And now that the demon is defeated let us enjoy our happiness for another day!" Shorin yells out. "Our resident priestess has lovingly backed all of you cookies for being such a good audience!" He looks over to where Nora pops up behind the kids. She shakes her head and a slight frown crosses his face. "Unfortunately she's not home today to give them to you herself but please enjoy them none the less!" Nora hands out the cookies to the kids as they leave. "What do you mean she's not here!?" Shorin questions Nora.

"She wasn't anywhere in the house. I don't know where she went. I should've woke her up earlier."

"I know where she went…" Youko's voice lowers, his tone a little hurt and sad.

"Where?!" Corin sits up and takes a cookie. "Nora I think you added too much black and red paint."

"Did you guys tell her about the field trip today? And the play?"

"… I thought you were going to tell her!" They all yell at each other in unison.

"… So that's a no…. well she came up behind us right when I killed Corin."

"… Oh shit! They yell out, again in unison.

"And from where she was, all she saw was Corin and I. She screamed when I killed him and then ran off. She was crying… she thinks I really killed Corin…"

"Go get her." Nora snaps."

"Did you hear me? She's probably scared f me now."

"Then change her mind. You scared her. So go get her."

- - - - -

Kagome keeps running, tears staining her face and pulling through branches as she continues to put more distance between her and the dojo. _–Youko…. Why… why would you do that… why'd you kill him? Why kill my brother? And when we were so happy…-_ She trips over a tree root, landing in the dirt.

"Are you ok miss?" She looks up to see a boy with orange hair wearing jeans and a yellow t-shirt. He offers her a hand. She takes it hesitantly and he pulls her up to stand. Kagome tries to take a step back but she falls again, pain searing through her foot. The guy in front of her helps her up again, this time not letting go. "Be careful. I think you hurt yourself, falling before."

"Oh no, I'm fine, really." She smiles slightly, pulling away from him only to fall again. He catches her this time.

"No I'm pretty sure you broke something." He picks her up gently. She struggles a bit but he firmly holds her to him. "You are injured and by yourself. I will not let you go. It isn't safe to be injured out here. You could be attacked. Let me take you to my place so I can bandage you. You may choose to leave when you're healed."

"But I'll heal in a couple days. I'll be fine. I really must be going home."

"You can leave my place in a couple days when you are healed. Besides, it would be a shame if something happened to a pretty girl like you. And a woman should always have an escort. You don't seem to have one with you, so please allow me to fill in while you are injured." He starts walking, apparently knowing exactly where he's going.

"What were you doing out here? …If I may ask." Kagome looks up at the guy curiously.

"I was looking for a friend of mine. He ran off because our master was too harsh on him."

"…Oh. You have a master? Why would you answer to someone like that?"

"… A while ago my two friends and I lived in a small village in China. And we worked at a dojo there. Our sensei became very ill…. And nothing we did worked. A guy showed u on day and offered to heal him in exchange for us moving here to work for him. So we did.

"Is your sensei healthy now?"

"Yes. It's been a couple years, but he is finally back to full health."  
"So why don't you go back?"

"Our master will not hear of it and said that if we left, our sensei would die." There is silence for several seconds before he speaks again. "What were you doing out here?"

"…me? … um… I … was just taking a walk."

"Are you sure? You were funning and you have tear stains on your face."

"… oh…um…heh…."

"Please tell me what you were running from?"

"…. I just got scared by something. I ran to escape it."

"Well whatever is was you have no need to fear it now. You are safe. I am a good fighter; I will make sure nothing happens while you are staying with us." Without warning the sky opens up and rain starts pouring down on them.

"There you are!" Kagome looks up to see a man with long black hair pulled back into a thin braid wearing a purple Chinese fighting kimono with black pants standing on a tree branch above them. "I found him. He's gone back home – who is that?" He finally notices Kagome.

"I found her while I was searching for him. She's injured and can't walk. Is it alright if I bring her home?"

"Fine with me. We just have to make sure our master doesn't find her. Come. We have to get back and bandage him." The man takes off.

"Hold on. I'm gonna speed up." The guy holding Kagome stats to jump from tree branch to tree branch, becoming a blur among the trees.

"A-are you a demon?!" Kagome grips his arm tighter, startled by his speed.

"…no. I'm a human."

"You're fast for a human!"

"Yes. I am just as fast as a demon… how do you know about demons?"

"…um…heh… well… you're not going to drop me are you?  
"…no. why would I droop you?"

"In case you hate me or out of shock. I'd really no like t fall."

"I promise I won't drip you."

"Ok. I'm… a miko."

"…really?" He stops jumping for a few minutes. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"That's amazing! I thought there weren't any left!"

"There are.. But very few have any actual magical abilities left. They've all been weeded out."

"… How powerful are you? Out of curiosity."

"… Midoriko if you've heard of her."

"Oh yeah! Wow, I've never seen a miko before!"

"Well we don't look that different from everyone else. We look just like normal humans. Do you just have spiritual energy or are you half demon?"

"… I'm a pure human. I'm a trained fighter and our master has added to our abilities in order to make us better, stronger fighters."

"…oh."

He resumes jumping from branch to branch. "I heard there is going to be another tournament in the near future.

"A tournament?"

"Yes. We battle on teams in several rounds of intense combat. Anything goes and the victor is recorded in tournament history."

"That sounds dangerous. Someone could die or get seriously injured."

"That's why it's mainly for really strong fighters." He lands in front of a small 5 room house. "You should watch us sometime." He carries her in.

"Um… you have yet to give me your name."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Ryo. These are my friends Kai and En." He points to the man she saw before and a new guy with short brown hair and black pants, covered in open wounds.

"Oh my goodness!" she pushes on Ryo with more force than he was hit with before, causing him to let go of her out of shock. Kagome drops to the ground and drags herself over to En. She reaches out slowly to touch him and he flinches away from her. "It's alright. Let me heal you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Kagome. I'm a miko. I won't hurt you, I promise."

"…alright." He shifts slightly closer to her. Kagome's hands start to glow emitting a white light tinged with blue around him. His open wounds slowly start to vanish. The glow dies down as Kagome pulls her hands away from him. "Thank you. That didn't even sting a little bit."

"I told you I was gentle."

"Ryo where did you find her?"

"Out in the woods. She was running from something that scared her before she fell and broke her foot." He answers.

"What could frighten an obviously powerful miko?" Kai gets involved, now a bit intrigued. All of a sudden all three of them freeze up, their eyes dulling and their faces turning into blank masks.

"Huh?" Kagome hesitates. "What's going on!? Please don't scare me guys?! What's wrong!?" she starts to panic.

"Well, well… it looks like my toys brought home a put." A short, ugly, goblin-looking demon wearing a long white coat appears in front of her. "What an intriguing human female… although with the small energy trace I just felt coming from here… you have a little bit of miko blood."

"…" –_oh shit.-_ she is pulled over by the collar and brought down to his level.

"What a wonderful treat this will be!" An evil smirk spreads across his face.


End file.
